ranging from drug possession to murder can be a stressful job for officers in san antonio's bexar county jail. >> can i talk to you? i want to talk to you real for a second. >> even more so, when the jail faces staffing shortages. >> we're at least 120 officer short. right now we're doing what we call a mandatory overtime program where we're requiring officers to stay over after their shift is completed for at least a couple hours. talking to the officers, you can see this is stressing them, really stretching it and hopefully we can do something about that in the near future so it isn't the proverbial rubber band and snap. >> the demands on staff extend beyond inmate housing units to service areas such as the jail's mail room. >> the most overwhelming aspect is not the mail itself, it's the volume of the mail. on a busy day, we'll get about 2600 pieces of mail coming in. going out we probably send out half that, 1300 pieces. daily. then we'll go to the cutting machine and open them all up. and we start the inspection process. we don't read all of the mail. however, we do scan the mail. we ope

and josie sanchez faces the judge. >> josie sanchez. >>> across the street from san antonio's bexar county jailthe jail's annex. it is here that low-risk inmates charged with minor offenses are held in large dormitory style units that are usually teaming with activity. while some inmates try to rest or read, others are socializing. talking on the phone, or playing games. matt, the first to spend this time making music. ♪ i don't know about a job ♪ i'm tiring of being incarcerated ♪ i want the lifestyles ♪ you can stay up in the hood ♪ ♪ or you can widen your terrain ♪ ♪ you can keep on hustling but i'm going to follow my dreams ♪ ♪ don't you went to live a careful life ♪ ♪ it's up to you so do your thing ♪ ♪ yeah [ applause ] >> a whole different perspective on life. not all about what you are doing in the hood or growing up around. there is more to life than what you see. so, there is a whole different terrain, you can widen up to. all up to you to choose the path. that's what the whole song was about. >> some of the chosen paths of 39,500 men and women incarcerated in bexar county have led to

bexar county jail is a modern fortress that houses approximately 3,500 male and female inmates. most have only been charged with crimes and are awaiting trial for the resolution of their cases. we're very regulated on how we treat inmates. even though they're incarcerated, they still have rights. we realize they're here not to punish anyone but hold them. >> but here it's never a proposition, especially when they don't want to be held. >> a lot of the gang members, they've got all that time, you know, to think of didn't games they can play with the officers because they're trying to create a reputation for themselves that they're not to be messed with. >> i'm easy to get along with, once they don't, i'm going to take care of business. >> jose hidalgo is described as one of of the most notorious. he describes the gang more as a fellowship. >> they're in prison on the make sure the home boys make it safe back to our families and to make sure if one of our home boys need something, we're going to be there. >> since the age of 14, hidalgo has spent most of his life incarcerated. he'

the bexar county jail is a modern-day fortress that houses approximately 3,500 male and female inmatesmost have only been charged with crimes and are awaiting trial for the resolution of their cases. >> we're very regulated on how we treat inmates. we realize that even though they're incarcerated they still have rights. we also realize that we're not here to punish or to convict anyone. it's just to hold them. >> but in jail holding inmates is never a simple proposition. especially when they don't want to be held. >> a lot of the gang members, because they're secured in the cell for 23 hours a day, they've got all that time to, you know, think of different games they can play with the officers. >> whoo! >> because they're trying to create a reputation for themselves that they're not to be messed with. >> i'm easy to get along with, but once somebody disrespects me or something, we won't -- we're going to take care of business. >> jose hidalgo is a member of what officials describe as the fastest growing and most notorious gang in the jail, the tango orejones. but hidalgo describes the

you gotta taste this soup. >>> inside the general population units of san antonio's bexar county jaillong periods of monotony can be shattered by sudden violence. on a saturday morning inmates pass time in the day room when a fight breaks out in the second floor cell. >> code 2. >> the jail's special emergency response team races to the unit and orders all inmates to the ground. within moments it's all over. one of the participants is a member of the white supremacist gang the aryan brotherhood, adam verlander, who's here on charges of car theft and evading arrest, to which he has pled not guilty. >> aryan brotherhood of texas, baby. >> the other inmate is dimitric gonzalez, who is awaiting trial for assault and drug possession and has also pled not guilty. >> so what was this about, verlander? >> bloody towels being left where we put our drinks. >> it's a misunderstanding. i had come from the hospital. they thought because i had just came from going to the hospital i had laid a gauze that had blood on it on the windowsill. >> towels with blood on them. supposedly he left it on the wi

. >>> san antonio's bexar county jail is a fortress of brick, steel and razor wire.apable of housing up to 4500 men and women. some of the inmates here have been convicted and are serving short sentences. but most have only been charged with crimes and are awaiting trial with the resolution of their cases.