rikers island is different.ld run around the hallways, do whatever, basically. >> been here about two and a half months. i'm awaiting extradition to new jersey. i got paroled in new jersey. basically, that's it. i was on the run for four and a half years from new jersey and finally got caught. >> this is phillip santiago's fourth time at rikers. he was convicted for credit card fraud and has been on board for two and a half months awaiting extradition to new jersey. >> oh, i need to be outside. i ain't been outside the last month and a half. oh! hell, yeah. >> how's it feel? >> it feels the best, it feel good. it feels very good. a beautiful feeling to come outside, especially when you're incarcerated. all the air you get is to go to court and that's it. you get on the bus. besides that, you get to look out the window. and that's it. >> everybody, place your i.d. cards on your outermost garments. put them up on your chest, please, gentlemen. keep the noise down. we're going to take it inside. we're going to clea

inmates held at rikers island here in new york been suing the city for injuries they say they received. now, some say they slipped on suppleness shower while others say the beds were too short and injured them. i kid you not. one fellow has been locked up in rikers since 2009 for apparently firing on to new york police department cops. he says a stop up rain in the shower cost of defaults. he says the city is at fault for not putting down rubber mats or those big orange hazard comes. people familiar with the sec in order prisoners share names of lawyers, even putting attorney contact information year jail payphones. so far according to the new york post the city has paid out more than $111 million, much of it in payments in increments of $2,000 just to make a suitable way. that's right. the department of corrections has been sued 8500 times between 2007 and 2011. not clear how many were filed by inmates, but more and more soon to be every year. take a look at these numers. the number has risen from under 1500 in 2007 to more than 1800 in 2011, and payouts are nothing to sneeze at. near

. >> in the five years since we first visited rikers island, it has undergone its own rebirth. it has cut violence among inmates by 90%, increased cell searches for drugs and weapons and made its officers and wardens more accountable for their work. but its commissioner is still looking for ways to make his jails safer and more efficient. >> i would like my legacy to be that in new york city, we set the model for how people are released from jails. i would like people to look back and say, while he was the commissioner, his staff was safe, the inmates were safe and the community was safe. we have zero tolerance for violence in these jails and our goal is to eliminate it. >> although the new york department of corrections says it has worked hard to implement programs to assist its offenders, almost half of the inmates will be re-arrested within a year. that's our report. thanks for watching. i'm john seigenthaler. . . >>> due to mature subject matter, viewer discretion is advised. there are 2 million people behind bars in america. we open the gates, "lockup." >> this is what you