(soft somber classical music) - Anybody, is this your
first day of prison? Second day maybe, like you
don't know what's going on? Right. I believe in the ability
of a person to change. You have to want to be a
better sister, wife, mom. You have to admit this
place is different. - [Gregg] Historically, prison's
simply lock people down and keep the inmates quiet. - You need to calm down. - For women, it
simply doesn't work. (tense electronic music) We're gonna be transitioning
several hundred inmates into a completely and
innovative prisons. - The idea was to try
to provide a place where an inmate can come
and try and learn something, learn a skill. - I've never been so
happy to be in prison. (energetic electronic music) - [Officer] Every one of these
women are gonna get out. - [CO] Roll out
ladies, let's roll out. - [Officer] Did we do the
best job we possibly could to make them better citizens? - Bye, bye. - [Inmates] Bye! - It will be a whole new
world for us and the inmate. - Hating this little
lame ass place. - It's a matter of time
before they start fighting. - (beep) you. - (beep) you, bitch. - [Inmate] Give us
this much freedom, we bound to get in trouble. - Dude, for real. This is a set up. - [Inmate] Substance
abuse is a big issue. - Some girls come they're
just gay for the stay. Some girls come gay
from the street to here. - She said the more they tap it, the (beep) higher
her butt cheeks go. - I got into about 14 fights
in the last year and a half. - (beep) talking (beep). Don't make me go over there and whup that bitch's ass too. - [Man] There are those already that we know that are
trying to test us. - (beep) this place
and (beep) the warden. He's whack. - She's (beep) retarded. - [Inmate] It's the
same mission. Power, respect, money. - You know how we do (beep). It's our way or no way. - This is a very
risky undertaking but we have no choice
at this moment, to do the right thing. (low tense instrumental music) (helicopter blades chopping)
(energetic electronic music) - [Officer in radio]
They are in route. (indistinct radio chatter) - Across the nation,
there are several states experiencing a population
crisis with females coming to prison. - Careful, and careful. - What we're seeing in America, there are more women
coming to prison for longer prison sentences. - [Inmate] They're
gonna unrestrain you and then you go and sit
at the bleachers, okay? - We absolutely, in New Mexico also experienced a significant
and dramatic increase in our female population. That we cannot approach in the same way
that we have traditionally. - [Man] 1 12. - If I don't get my stuff like, that's (beep). - Our approaches to
correctional programming for many many years
have been simply lock people down,
keeping inmates quiet. - You need to calm down. - And then releasing
people straight into our neighborhoods. What we found, for women, is
that it simply doesn't work. Now historically, all
of our female inmates assigned to the prison system
are held within a private prison institution. Locked up in that manner. - I'm gonna spend 23
years here, in this cell. - Yeah, it sucks. - If we are to succeed,
we got to do our best to design the prison
experience to be as closely related to what the
worlds gonna look like when they're released. - First 12. - [Inmate] Stay in order. Keep them like that. - Springer was built
and designed not so much as a prison but a secured
learning environment. Where we have this campus
that has provided us the most remarkable opportunity
that it offers women the sorts of jobs and
a level of freedom. For this to work, we're
gonna have to provide them the leadership that
many of these women never had in their life. (soft instrumental music) - Good afternoon. - [Women] Good afternoon. - My name is John Sanchez,
I'm the warden here at the Springer
correctional center. Welcome to Springer. This place is different,
very different. Our goal in the
Department of Corrections is to try and make the
streets of New Mexico safer. This facility offers a
level of privilege that you have not experienced. I've been very
blessed in my career. Honestly, in 22 years
I've dealt with a lot. When I was doing my internship and I was dealing with
15 year old juveniles and I told him that his
record was gonna be sealed and that he could go
on and do whatever he wanted with his life
and he was very respectful and he said to me, "Sir, sir that's the
world you live in. That's not my world." He said, "MY
Grandpa's in prison, my father's in prison, I have
an older brother in prison and I'm gonna go to prison. There's nothing you
can do about it." I remember that very distinctly. It's sad. How do we break that cycle? What do we do? Not just as the
Department of Corrections but what do we do as a society? In dealing with everything
that I've dealt with, it's brought me to a point
where I'm prepared for this. That I, have matured. (laughs) What we're trying
to do here is create a, an environment
where you're able to get some programming or try
and do something different. You're job, until I
give you programming, is to stay out of trouble. Everyone one of these
women are gonna get out and did we do the best
job we possibly could to make them better citizens? What I'm asking for is
your cooperation, alright. Thank you and
welcome to Springer. - [Women] Thank you. (applause) (tense electronic music) - It is a different approach and most of the staff
are gonna have to adjust. They're not used to having
48 women around them. Some of them are kind of
freaking out about it. Any prison setting can
be a dangerous place. - What's gonna
happen here, ladies, is you're gonna walk over here where they're gonna
get stripped searched. - Humans like to act
on their emotions that could result
in more assaults. - With females and their
different personalities, it's a matter of time before
they started fighting. It could blow up. - Alright ladies, listen up. You're gonna receive
a beanie, a jacket, and a uniform. Any time you're in those
oranges, your shirts will be tucked in. - With freedom comes
responsibility. Make no doubt about it. There are rules
that are in place and will remain unwavering. There is zero
tolerance for drugs. There'll be zero tolerance
for inappropriate sexual relationships, violence, or any other criminal crime. - [Inmate] Anytime you guys
don't want to follow the rules, we will start writing you up. So make sure you
follow the rules, okay? So right now, they'll
get your uniforms and then they'll have
you come over here and fill out a form. - Go ahead and sign right there. Give them your
name and your size. - [Man] Medium
top, medium bottom? - All the way against the wall. - We've made it very clear
what success looks like. You have the rules
you make the choices. For those inmates who
don't want to accept this investment that we
want to make into them, I've got prison bays for them. Western handles our most
difficult higher risk inmates with longer sentences
that are already harden in their spirits and hearts
and made some poor decisions. They place too much risk on
injuring or killing our staff and or other inmates because of security
reasons, they are gonna be held in a far more
restrictive environment. - Yeah, you ready? - I don't like it. - It sucks. (beep) up because we're
stuck in this room. It's so little. Look at it, it's
like real small. Like there aint, we can't
even see outside the window. - You made the
choices to come here, this is your neighborhood. I am gonna have safe prisons. - I can't live like this y'all. - But at the end of the day, this system has
been about creating opportunities for
people to make choices. - [Officer] You walk down this
sidewalk here... Springer represents a
completely different and innovate approach
to prison management. That's why we refer to it as our sort of experiment
in New Mexico. As we transfer these women, we're gonna be
watching very closely to separate out those
who are committed with this investment and
those who are gonna look to exploit these new freedoms. (energetic tense
electronic music) - This is so big
compared to over there. - I know, we were
living in the ghetto. - Oh my gosh, you
guys look at this. - [Inmate] What is this? - [Inmate] Oh my God. - Look at all the
windows we have here. We can actually look outside. - Oh my God this is like the Hilton compared to
Motel 6, you know? For real. - Sausage and gravy biscuits. - What? I'm so excited. A fat girl at heart. (laughs) - Crisp sheets. Oh yeah, gonna sleep
so great tonight. This is a nice mattress. We were sleeping
on metal before. You always have anxiety. But other than that, yes
way more comfortable. Tell you that much. (upbeat electronic music) - Don't come to prison. - Many if not most
of these females are first time offenders. They're far more
positioned to succeed. - I have a two year old
that's waiting for me and I can't wait to
get back home to her. - But at the same time,
there will be some females who come to us with
pervasive criminal histories. - This is gonna be so (beep)
scared when I get there. - It will be
difficult to change. - Hating this little
lame ass place. Too much freedom. (energetic electronic music) I'm red flagged like a
(beep) here for no reason. I'm even insulted by that. They don't got no proof
or nothing of you. They sure don't. Apparently I'm related
to El Chapo Guzman. (speaking Spanish) (laughing) I'm an outgoing and
short tempered female. (upbeat electronic music) A lot of these females
are intimated by me cause they know
that I will fight to get what the hell
I want or my way. I want some corn rows
going to the side. Hook me up with some
kind of star burst. I consider myself
boss up in here. I've heard it's a lot
better here but I really don't
believe that they care on how we do our time
or what's gonna happen to us when we get out. We were all real
frustrated at the same time because of our new surroundings and being institutionalized. We're inside a facility, we
hardly ever got to come out. - [Inmate] What they're not
understanding is that we came form somewhere that
had no structure, no consistency. - [Inmate] We ran that (beep). - [Inmate] Exactly. We literally ran that place. - You know that movie Rat Race how they just throw you out
there and they can see you? You know what I mean? I felt like they're
like zoomed into us. This little camp. Supposed to be successful here. Oh yeah look at these braids. They look hot. God I'm sexy, huh? - [Inmate] Am I the
female Godfather? - [Inmate] Yeah. (laughing) - Godmother over here. They done (beep) up putting us all in here together. They don't know about us. (tense electronic music) - We are just days
into this transfer. Over the next three
to four weeks, we'll be transferring
hundreds of female inmates to Springer. - [Officer] Let's go
ladies, let's go. - The process of
settling those inmates is extraordinary. From their access to commissary, to phone privileges,
to security screenings, to assuring that all of
those inmates property is transferred. There's still so much
that needs to be done. It's going to be challenging. Our staff are gonna have
to be on their game. They're gonna have to
stay alert for any inmate who might try to take advantage of these newfound freedoms. (laughing) - What part are you in? - In six. - You like it? - Yes, I love it here. - This is great. I've never been so
happy to be in prison. - It's a nice sun shiny day
here in Springer, New Mexico. - The first day I was
here, the warden come up he goes, "Trouble,
it's written all over." He goes, "I'm watching you." And I was like, I
didn't even do nothing. (tense electronic music) The other prison I came
from was a piece of (beep). The guards disrespected, they
treated you like (beep). You didn't have no
programs, no opportunities to better yourself while
you're on the inside. I wish I was here before
like where I could do something with my
time instead of nothing, you know what I mean? There's a lot of programs,
schooling available, trades, all that here. Coming here, I did have
a little bit of anxiety. - How are you doing? Are you okay? - I've been in that
one room for so long and it's scary. There's a lot of
people here, look. There's girls everywhere. I left two of my
best friends behind. Like one of my best
friends, she's a lifer and she probably gonna
be going to Western. So that's gonna be tough. I'm still adjusting to it. Who's in the pod
like of our people? One of the reasons
I'm scared is because people clique up in here. A lot of people clique up. Either gangs, the
connects, the users, just everybody cliques up. I keep it cool with everybody cause I'm trying to
stay out of trouble. - You know there
aint no such thing as cliques around here, right? - Yes. - Okay, we don't
do all that right? - This is cupcake town. A lot of girls here don't
want you guys to know about how people clique
up in a place like this. People that bring the
drugs in the facility, a lot of people try
to clique up with them cause they're waiting for
a free high or a handout. It's gonna be one of the
biggest cliques here. - Female inmates don't
typically have gangs but they have what is
called prison families which creates these cliques. - The family structure
in prison is like, you got to have somebody
to make sure that hey everything's alright. You have that protection. - Women in prison have
a closer relationship with each other then they
do with their own families. - Sometimes blood is
not thicker than water. Water can be thicker than blood and that's how it is for us. - There's a hierarchy in
any kind of prison you're in and you don't want
to be at the bottom. - The influences of these
prison families are never ever healthy and as we
make this transition, those prison families
are being broken and that presents itself
with the opportunities for the leaders to
reestablish new families at the new facilities. - Gives you a lot of
power to be in control of a lot of things. - Those cliques can create
conflict in the prison system. - [Inmate] I almost got
in a fight over here. - Are you serious? - Yes. - A little troubLe maker. - She's the one who started it. But. - You guys are meatballs. - When I have my spot in line, I want my spot in line. You know what I mean? - You tell Kathy that
talk (beep) get hit? I love you Martha Connel In prison, everybody knows me. I'm Mama Dee to a lot of people. Oh she better hope I
don't run into her. I don't like when people hurt. It bothers me a lot. Get a forearm to
the fricken nose. I'm a head butter. (laughs) I'll take your teeth out. I'll headbutt her till
she can't see no more. - [Inmate] Her and
her wild ass hair. (laughs) - I've been here in Springer. I don't want to be weak in here. I'm not gonna change
because I'm in prison. (laughs) - Today we've received 49
of the female offenders and along with the
intake process, we will be going
through the property. The STIU is the Security
Threat Intelligence Unit. We monitor gangs and drugs. We are charged with
the safety and security of the facility. Women offenders
almost all of them have drug or alcohol
related offensives. - [Inmate] I know somebody
that can get some good crack. - It is very dangerous to
move masses of inmates. They could be a lot of drugs
trying to come into the mail, trying to come in
through the laundry. - Doing the inventory of
everything we've received for each inmate. Unroll every sock, open
up every photo album, screen through very
book and make sure there's nothing they're
not supposed to have. - Sometimes there's
drugs in the cards . We go through every sheet
of paper, inside envelopes. Make sure there's no strips
that might contain drugs. - When they're on
drugs or alcohol, women have the
potential to be violent. (tense electronic music) - Go ahead and make a
line, probably back here. - I've had two cases, yes. - We'll let you know
what's going with that. - Alright, thank you. - One of the main
objectives is to make sure that we're doing
everything we can to prepare them for reentry
into our communities. - Hi, whats your name? - Robin Wilson. - Those inmates with
longer sentences will be very excited with
the open campus environment and with the opportunities
that are at their feet, at their ready to take on. - We're gonna keep you
busy while you're here. Oh did you put in for that? We'll get you level one and
we'll see how it works out. - Those inmates were very
very close to the door, are actually as
you might expect, very fearful about
what's on the other side of this prison wall. - Says you're
short timer status, where you gonna go? - I have a couple family
members that would like me to go their houses. - So we'll be dealing with a
lot of different motivations and emotions as we make
it possible for the to return back to
a productive life. (upbeat electronic music) - [Inmate] I've
been on six months and I still have
four years to go. - This is my first
time In prison, dude. Like I can't believe it. I never in a million
years imagined that I'd ever come to prison. I was just a stay at home mom. I never even went out. I never did nothing. These are my kids. This is my son Andres,
he's 17 years old and this is Antonio. They're cute, huh? They're other that took
care of them is gone. This experience has
affected all of us. Most part my parents
because they're elderly. There's my husband, Stiles. We met August 6th, we were
married by September 5th, the following next month.
- Wow. - Didn't even know each other. We were just like,
this is gonna work. My parents blame him. They were upset
because they felt like maybe he made a
decision on his own that brought me here to prison. - What happened? - We were there hanging
out at the house and all of a sudden
I got a phone call. It was a girl, she was like
"You need to come quick. Your son, they're chasing
him with the truck. They're running after him. They're literally
gonna run him over and Stile's is actually
asleep and I was like Wake up, we got to
goes, somethings wrong. Show up, there's a bunch
of gang members actually and there was a little argument then the guy pulled up a brick. I think my husband just
reacted and he shot at them. One person, he shot him
thought the back shoulder and it exited out his chest. - Was he okay? Did he live? - Yeah he did live
but he could of died. The other one, I
think it just like... - Grazed him?
- yeah, grazed him but my intention
was to just to talk. I didn't know was gonna go
from zero to 100 real (beep) quick. - Yeah. - That's, I'm mean that's crazy. - So they charged you with
that same thing as him? Even though you
weren't the shooter? - Me and him got the
same charges, dude. I was surprised. I was like, what? He was just protecting us. It just, everything when wrong. I lost everything. I regret coming out
of the house that day. If I could change anything, we would of handled
this different. This should of been
handled different. This is a picture we decided
to take two days before I came to prison. I've made correspondence
with my family since I came here and
I'm praying that they come visit me soon. My kids my life. I'm dying inside
till I see you again. - Angelina McManaway. - My out days gonna be soon? - It's gonna be soon.
- Yeah soon? - I need you to sign
both these forms a date right here and
in about two three days we'll have your new projected
outdate that we can get and get on with your life. - Yes, sir. - Alright?
- Okay. Thank you. - You're welcome. - About to leave. I'm super excited. - Yeah (beep) I ain't
been out four years. - He said he'd have my
outdate in two to three days. But like here these
so much freedom, so I just want to
go things you know? Things that I know I can't. Troubles' my middle name. - When I first got to prison I fought so much. - I feel like they
brought me here just like they could keep a
loser eye on me. Like they signal my out a lot because of the write
ups I came with. - It makes me want
to act out even more and its just like there's
that door that I can just open and go you know? Temptation is all around. - We've got those inmates
that are younger and wldiler. They enjoy the drama and the
attention that comes with it. We're hopeful that by working
on on on with each one of our younger inmates that
will help bring them along in the transition. - Watch your step. Let's go ladies, everybody. (upbeat hip hop music) - I got here three days ago
and I'm still adjusting to it. - Are ad gonna do a
commissary order for me? - You need to do it right now, matter of fact. Because this is,
they're gonna pick em up tomorrow morning. - I have a girlfriend in prison. - Me and my prison
wife, Rebecca, we've been together on
and off for three years. Me and Rebecca, we actually
go transported here together to Springer. We actually live
on the same bunk. - No sweets, you
already got that. - Okay. She knows a lot about me,
I know a lot about her. We try to support each
other emotionally. She's a loyal person, she's
a good friend to have. - Oh no, none of those. - Please? (laughs) having Rebecca, it
makes things easier cause I don't have
nobody when I get out. Yeah I've done a
(beeps) with my life. I have a (beep) up past. My parents were drug addicts. I lost my dad. I found him dead when
I was 13 years old. It (beep) me up, bad and when I lost him,
I gave up on life. I started using methamphetamine. I got arrested, I ended
up getting pregnant at an early age. I actually gave birth to
my five year old in prison. I'm a drug addict,
I'm and alcoholic. So I get out, I get high
and I come back to prison. I'm scared to get out this year and I don't know
what I'm gonna do and that's what's scary. It's good to have that,
somebody to just lean on and cry and have them hold you. Especially like when you're
going through a hard time like how I am going
through with my family and everything. It's good to have
somebody that knows you, knows where you come from, like to keep you positive. I'm getting ready
to leave Springer back to Albuquerque for court. Two months ago, I got
caught bringing heroin into a facility. I'm hoping I don't (beep)
up being away from here. - Females tend to be
a bit more emotional. -Okay?
- Okay. They develop their
own relationships within the prison structures. - Women in prison, we're drug
addicts, we're criminals, we're murders but
we're al hurting and need companionship. - This is the gorgeous
one in the pod. - There's a lot of romantic
stuff going around here with females. - I'm not gonna
spend years in prison and not have a
bitch, (beep) that. - Some girls come, they're
just gay for the stay. Some girls come gay
from the street to here, you know what I mean? - A lot of girls get
passed around in here. See a girl one day and
she's with one girl and then like the net day,
they'll switch girlfriends. Like we call them thristees. - They change girls like they change their damn underwear man. - They can get pretty crazy. - Of course jealousy's
gonna be thrown up in the air. Everyday on a daily. - They get fatal. Oh my God, they get so fatal. They just, can't
get enough of you. They don't want you
with nobody else, they want to fight
you if they see you with somebody else. It's ridiculous. - A lot of the chaos
anda lot of the drama around here is pertained to females being with females. - Romantic or sexual
relationships in prison environments can be
hugely problematic. Not only could it
involve coercion, rape, and those sorts of things, there's zero tolerance for it. - When you're in prison,
even if you hug anther female it's a sexual misconduct. At the end of the day,
there's always ways to get around stuff. Come on, where there's
a will there's a way. (tense electronic music) - I'm trying to see
if my girlfriends back from court yet. She went to court last week but I don't see a
transport vehicle so I guess she's not here yet. MY girlfriend, Lux, when
to court a week ago. So hopefully I'm still here when she gets here. They'll wait, believe me. (tense energetic
electronic music) - It is hot. - Want to read my card? So they said I'll be
leaving any day now. - Yeah right. - Yeah.
- I still have a minute. - Imagine I might
leave her for Lux. - She would be all hurt. In a perfect world,
she would come back. We'd both here and
we'd get married probably next weekend. What is this gonna tell me? It's both of our first
time getting married in prison, you know. So we think we're
gonna do it outside. Are you coming to the wedding? Yeah I'm missing Lux like crazy. It's a lot of cards. It's a lot to tell? - [Inmate] A lot to tell. - Actually, I met her
like three years ago and we absolutely did
not like each other. Like we were like enemies. So then when she
came back this time, I was like oh, I'm want
to hit her up, you know? She's all, "Can I sit down?" She's all, "Or will your
girlfriend get mad?" I was like, I don't
have a girlfriend. (laughs) - [Inmate] You were like, you
want to be my girlfriend? - So she sat down and
we've been kicking it ever since. - There's you,
there's a lot of love. There's your heart,
there she is. There's another bitch. Another man. - So there's another
guy and another girl? (upbeat hip hop music) ♪ Booty do ♪ Booty do ♪ Your stomach sticks out ♪ More than ♪ Your booty do - [Inmate] We are
having committee to - The most key innovative
measures that we see at Springer is that
it offers women the sorts of jobs as
felons they're most likely to get when they get out. - Are you four? Come here. What did they tell you? - [Gregg] We're gonna focus
on making sure that we do everything to train them
with some transferrable job skills. - What do you plan to
do while you're here? - Education and
keep myself busy. Stay out of trouble. - I need gym porters. - Okay. - What did they put you on? - What is that? - That's a good job, fool. - That's rock breaking? You're stupid. - Oh yeah. You're outside of the fence? - No stupid.
- Oh my God. - Right now I need a housing
and seventh plot porter. It will be Sunday through
Thursday from 7:30 to 2:30. - Okay. - There you go.
- Thank you. - I'm up. Hi guys. - Hello, how are you?
- Good and you? Good. - Alright Gladys Sanchez
Padillo. We gathered together to try
and get you on the right path with programming and we'll
give you a job today. Where I need you at is
a housing day porter. Sunday through Thursday
in the afternoon and I'll start paying
you as of tomorrow. - You like this facility? - Huh? - You like this facility? - Honestly, no I think
I'm institutionalized. You know so it's a
little different for me. - Well it's better than
being locked up right? - I was okay where I was. - [Man] Okay. - They told me I'm going to
hell if I don't change my ways. (laughing) A pod porter. - You work Sunday
through Thursday 12:30 PM to 7:30 PM. That's your whole day. - I have to go to
work, you know, I just got a job. - You know you aint
got to do nothing. You just got to clean and
then (beep) go outside. - You're gonna have us
over there with you. - That's just how it is. We have no say so in here. 30 cents per hour. 30 cents per hour, ladies. What they pay us is
just disrespectful. (beep) slaves,
30 cents an hour. That will piss
somebody like me off. - [Inmate] Is that Big John? - Where? - [Inmate] Is that
Big John over there? - Well, yup, no. Yup it is. - [Inmate] Should we just
call Big John to the fence? - [Inmate] John, Mr. Sanchez. - Just tell him, Big John, sir, can you bring your
moose knuckle over here? - Mr. Sanchez! Okay are you gonna come
back so we can talk? Oh see you guys
got me all (beep). - Then how do you do business? You don't even talk to us. - The warden's a (beep) prick. - Yeah. The warden, he's a douche
bag really, honestly. - You see how much
of a dick he is. Like a prick, you know? - He's waiting for one
of us to do something so he can make sure
that we're in trouble and catch a charge
and give us more time. Yeah I can't do this. This, this, all
this right here, no. He's somebody that doesn't
have respect for us. He's somebody that
looks down on us. That's what makes me pop off. We're gonna have problems. (tense electronic music) - Thank you sir. The officer that found
it saw the residue in the corner in the
bottom of the envelope thinking that it could be a,
some kind of drug substance. If they are trying to
bring in contraband, bring in drugs, it
is a very dangerous. Anyone that controls the
drugs and has a connection is potentially violent. They end up controlling
the facility. It appears to be
black, sticky in nature and it did flatten in the
corner of the envelope. Some black spot there. Any small amount is
usually testable. It takes a very little amount to actually show a positive. Depending on the
color that it turns we'll know what it is and
we'll see what we get. Preliminary test actually shows that it is positive for heroin. This one would be
black tar heroin. - Heroin has been
at an epidemic level in New Mexico prisons
for decades now. - Something like this
can actually add time to your sentence. You can street charges
for dangerous contraband in a facility. - When we receive
physical evidence that there are drugs
being introduced into our prisons, we have
to deal with it quickly and decisively. - There are those
already that we know that are trying to test us. (upbeat electronic music) When the females arrive, they
will be stripped searched and we're gonna have
to also increase the process to go
through their property. We are looking for any
indications of drug smuggling. - Drug dealers, they
leverage their capacity to exact fear and intimidation
within our prisons based on controlling
the drug industry. - Situational awareness, okay? Here at this facility,
it's gonna be very active out there on the compound
just going through units. It's still prison. Honestly they can either be here or they can be at Western. There's not a whole
lot of other options. Everybody be careful. (soft tense hip hop music) - I want to use the phone. I want to talk to my kids. Nobody knows where we are,
if we're okay, nothing. That's the only thing that
brings tears to my eyes is my kids. We want to talk to our kids. - As human beings,
we're social animals. If Springer is to
be the campus style, pro social environment
it is designed to be, then one of the main
objectives is to do everything that we can to get
inmates connected strongly to their families and phone calls is
one way of doing that. (upbeat hip hop music) - Ladies, it's now 11:30. We're gonna begin the
produce to set your phone up with the voice
recognition, okay? - It's equally important
to make sure that as we're implementing
these phones that we're doing
so with every one of our risk management
mechanisms in place. - [Man] It will
say a random number and then it will
ask you to read it. - [Phone] Begin reading
aloud at the beep. (beep) - The tin man is tall. - [Inmate] We boosted
a dog in the park. - Oh mother, my mother. She's probably hetic right now, wondering what the
heck is going on. - Open the door. See the dog run with the ball. - We monitor phone
calls in prison to stay on top of
security threats, weapons, drugs, or
any other contraband that could threaten
this new environment. There's a number of
things that could happen that we don't want to happen. - [Phone] Enrollment complete. Thank you, goodbye. (tense electronic music) - Who's in line for
the (beep) phone? - There's only one line
for the phone, I thought? - There's not two (beep)
lines for the phone. There's one line. Get behind one person. - Yeah I don't know how
they have two lines again. But I know you're after me. So them two are the
next two and that's it. - What it don't make. - Come here, let's do
your eyebrows real quick. You want me to help you out? Katrina, she's one of the people that I can trust
with a lot of things. What was that commotion
over there by the phones. - [Katrina] They're trying
to make a (beep) list and I already told
them they're not making a (beep) list. - The young girls that come in, they're young and
they need to learn and they see us as
a mother figure. Who made it? - I don't know. - Well we can just jump on
it whenever the (beep) we want. Since when do we go
by the list, right? - Yeah. They done (beep) up putting
us all in here together. - They don't know about us. We got each others
back, no matter what. Who made this list
for the phones? You know these girls were
trying to put themselves in line for the phone. Doesn't work that way. You know what I mean? It doesn't work that, it's
not gonna go down like that. So are we gonna erase
this whole board or what? I run this show. It's all me. Where you guys at with it? Where you guys at with it? - [Inmate] Where we at with it? I don't know. - [Inmate] It's at
the beginning. - Being a boss, you call it
out and that's what it is. You know what I mean? It should be first
come first serve and like you need a phone call, you know what I mean? Have respect for the
ones that do need a phone call at seven o'clock. You should just be able
to get on the phone and not be on that list. The list is gone. You can erase all that. So I guess you
guys are, you know, you guys just use the phone. Being a boss, just these females don't get to say what goes
and what's gonna be done. Doesn't work that way. I, the boss, will
tell you how it goes. You know we do. It's our way or no way. - So we've been waiting
to get back the phone. Unfortunately, I have
not talked to my family. - And I is after you. - My dad is diagnosed
with Alzheimer disease. - Bye. - I can't do anything
but be a voice to him. - [Phone] Thank you. Secured, you may start
the conversation now. - Mom, hi where are you at? Oh my gosh, can I talk to dad? He's right there. Dad. Dad, this is Renee,
can you hear me? It's good to hear
your voice, dad. I'm so glad to talk to you. There's not a minute I
don't think of you guys. Okay. Well I'm doing alright. I moved, I got to Springer. I'm gonna be programs
and doing stuff. So I can try to get out
so I can go with you guys. You know? (crying) I wish I could explain
to you what I go through but it doesn't matter, it just matters that
I'm gonna get home and do programs that I can so I can get home to you guys. You know? I had so much to say but I'm
just lost for words, you know, but I am gonna
pray for you, dad. I promise I will. I'ma pray for you
and i'ma go home and I'm gonna take
care of you, okay? I love you and I'm sorry I
can't be there by your side but I love you and I'm
gonna hold you close to my heart, okay? Alright. Bye, dad. Bye, mom. (soft somber music) I just wish I wasn't
here, you know? I wish I was home and
I'ma do everything I can to go home. I'm gonna program to
do what I got to do. Cause this world
here, I don't like it. - [Recording] This
is what I hate about. So you know where the key is? Talk to her, she's
not done that. Hello. - With phone communication, a
number of things can happen. Good things like staying
in touch with family but also bad things can happen. The coordination of drugs
or weapons into the prisons system can occur. We've found evidence
and are pursuing an investigation regarding
heroin trafficking in the facility now and so monitoring those phones is a fundamental feature. - What I'm listening
to now is a phone call between McManaway
and her mother. - [Recording] You like
it in prison, Katrina. You would of been
out a long time ago and you don't even care
about your kids no more because you would have not done
what you did in there. You would of walked
out that door. - She's a person that
gets a lot of attention from the other
inmates and stuff. - [Recording] (mumbles)
there's no club in here. - She's over there
talking in the background to other inmates and just
inviting them into the unit which is a violation. - [Recording] Katrina,
keep your mouth shut. - [Man] So this is exactly
why we have a zero tolerance. - [Recording] Okay I'm sorry. The COs don't even know
what we look like yet. - Because I can't tell you
how disappointing it is to see someone so
close to freedom, so close to a meaningful
transition back into our community fail because of it. - That one in orange, I'll
(beep) break that bitch in half. (laughing) - We're gonna form a count
ladies, form a count. Bring out your ID. I should have to wait for it. See you're standing
in order, IDS out. - Come here baby. (laughs) - That's it ladies. - So when I went to court, I started growing
distant from Rebecca. It was nice, I got a
little bit more freedom. I go talk to other
girls, do drugs, party. In county like, And that (beep) messed me up. Rebecca, like I care for
her but I'm not in love with her anymore. I don't know when
you're in a relationship with females, it
gets old after awhile like you grow apart. Okay do you know
Danielle (beep). God she's a bad bitch. Bad ass (beep). So that's my girl now. So when I went to
court I got high, I started talking to this girl. We hooked up. She's never been with a girl and I was her first girlfriend. Bitch she's not gay
but I made her gay. - Wow. - Within two weeks,
bitch, two weeks. I break Becca's a lot,
everybody tells me, stop being so mean to her. Then I'm like,
Rebecca get over it. She aint going no where. So what did you do
everything while I was gone? - Same thing you did. - Kiss girls? - Yeah. - Who did you kiss. - A couple of, I don't
know some white girls. - Are they at least pretty? - Oh yeah, they're bad bitches. - Yeah?
- (beep) yeah. (laughs) - Stupid. I'm just tired of
being tied down. I want to be able to
(beeps) and get (beep) up. I'm Krystal Kelly
and I do what I want. - We're now three
quarters of the way through this transition
and we've found evidence and we're pursuing an
investigation regarding heroin trafficking in the facility now. - They can hide drugs anywhere
like in their clothing, in their shoes, in their
bunks, in their pillows, in their person. Anywhere, anywhere. -[Imnate] (beep) man. - It's important
that we're on top of who it is that's
facilitating that. - Checking at five
four diamond at a bunk. - And also making sure
that we do our best to seize those substances. - We're gonna conduct
a urinalysis test to check to see what
you're on if anything. I'm gonna need two more inmates. One from five and one from six. - Am I in trouble? - [Man] You've been
selected under suspicion of use od dangerous drugs. - [Gregg] It's those substances
that upset the power basis and that can threaten
the entire facility, even the non users
that are housed there. - All the little
test lines are there. It is a negative result. - I mean what we're talking
about is conflict no different than on the battlefield. On the battlefield the
trick is always gonna be to make sure that you're
taking out the leadership and the shot callers
for your foot soldiers. So anytime that we
find drugs in prison it's important for us to be
on our toes at every moment to try to stop and mitigate
the influence of drugs at Springer. (tense hip hop music) - This prison is not a prison. It's a cupcake camp. It's so easy to
get dope in here. It's so easy to hustle. These guards aint up
on game, you know, like they don't know women
are way different than men. Bringing the whole bag. You can get what you want. You can get away with
(beep) easy like you just gotta
know how to do it. You have to be up on game. Glad I'm a hustler. (beep) we're prisoners,
we're convicts. We break the law for a living. This is whatever
right, this ones one? - Yeah just, just for you yeah. - Okay thank you, baby. I've been using
drugs all my life. I use them in here. This is all I know, you know? (upbeat hip hop music) Ever since me and Rebecca,
we stopped seeing each other, I keep getting in trouble. Hi, baby. I love Rebecca, like
I care for her but I chose the
drug life over her. Ok, lets go. When you're an addict, you burn
a lot of bridges. Oh yes, baby. I walked out on my kids. I just turned my
back on everybody because I chose the
drug life, the gang life over being a mom. My kids, I know like I
hurt in here for them, like I miss them,
I can't hold them when they wake up
with nightmares. I can't help them
when they're sick. What it do, what it do? What you smoking (mumbles). But I can't say I will
never drink another beer or do another shot of heroin. Oh that's heaven. I'm not tired of that life yet. That (beep) me up. Wait, I think we should just... I want to get a snack,
you know what I mean? It numb the pain,
it helps me forget. I want some of this right here. It just, you get high,
you forget about (beep) (laughing) (tense electronic hip hop) - [Officer] All the
way to the back wall. - We have a drug
trafficking problem driven by the pursuit of power. They are driving their
influence in the same way drug dealers do
in neighborhoods. Drugs are not gonna be a part
of this safe prison equation. (laughs) - Huh, when's my chick coming? She's never coming. I'm just playing. My girlfriend, Lux, went
to court about a week ago. I don't know, I'll probably
leave before she gets here. - Earlier this week, McManaway was inviting
inmates to go into the unit which is a violation. This is a cat and mouse
game and they kind take advantage of the fact that
we aren't familiar with them and see what they
can get away with. We're pretty much trying
to keep a step ahead of everything. Are you gonna be doing anything
dumb while you're here? - No. - I see and I hear everything. - Yeah but I've been good. - Been good at inviting
people in the unit. - What? - Just saying, just saying. - I was talking (beep). I can't help if they go in. - We have some of the inmates
that are making problems purposefully. It makes it harder
for everybody. - Y'all are listening
to my phone calls? - That's what we do. - I was talking (beep) though. It's not my fault they
went in, you know. They didn't even go in. - We have cameras. - Alright. - No you know what. If I give you a break and
you do me dirty like that, I'm actually the one person
you don't want to mess with. That's why you're on
this little teeter totter with me right now. So as of yesterday am I
gonna be watching you. Abso freaking lutley, okay? Either you're gonna
mess it up for yourself, that's on you, alright? - Okay thank you. - I can't tell you how
disappointing it is to see someone so close
to freedom start to fail. We got to commit to
holding them accountable but at the same time,
providing them opportunities to make conscious
choices to change. - Hey they're gonna write
me up for inviting people into my unit because let me tell you
I was on a phone call and there was all kinds
of people that were coming to the door and I
was all come in, there's no CO in here, come in. She just threw that
(beep) in my face. - You just say the stupidest
(beep) on the phone, though, I hear you. I hear you. - I don't talk about
nothing serious, though. (low tense music) Looking over here, huh? - Can I flip her off? - you sitting over there
talking and looking. - Well they don't
let us do our time. They like to (beep) with us. - We already got plans. (laughs) - (beep) her. - STIU to 101. Can you 8-7
with me in my office? There is more of this substance. They did confiscate it
and they'll bring it up here and test it. (tense hip hop music) STIU, Sergeant Rosenberg. Hey come by the office. Yes, sir. Yeah it's heroin. Yes, sir. Come check it out. Alright, thanks. - What did you find? I mean, you found
heroin actually? - Yes. - I thought you guys
were talking about you gave her a urinalysis
she tested positive for it. No you found heroin. It's not surprising.
- Yeah. - It's disappointing. But it's the nature of the game. It's what they do. They try and get away
with stuff. - We'll question her and
call the state police. - This is Captain Ron Gonzales at the Springer
Correctional Center. Hi, I was just calling
to see if you have an officer in the
vicinity of Springer. 10-4, can you see if you have
an inmate, Nicole (beep). - [Cop] And who did
you say tested this? - I tested. - You did, Sergeant. If there's more, we're
looking at contributing. She's a violent one, huh? Aggravated assault upon
peace officer, child abuse. - There's still a storm to be
ridden out. So it's a constant
cat and mouse game. - Come on. - But our staff knew
that going into it and they're fully
poised to step up and make sure that we're doing
what it takes to make it. (energetic electronic music) - Once this transitions over,
we'll be at full capacity. - Go about 10 ahead of me. - 425, that's the number that
we've worked to increase to. Now that we're into this, we're
gonna start to walk around and say what do you need,
what did we not account for? - I don't want to
beat a dead horse, but once everybody
gets their commissary, they'll calm way down. - I know I know. - Way down, like way down. You'll be surprised
what that cup of coffee do for some people and we're addicts by nature. - Please. - I'll check on it but
I'm not guarantee it. - Thank you. - We're hanging. I'm hanging by my fingernails. (laughs) - McManaway, she had
a sense of attitude from the moment she
got off the bus. - (beep) the warden was
dogging me, intimidating me. - [Warden] So you kind
of key on those things. - Hey he be (beeps)
watching you like a mother. You walked off, he turned his
(beep) neck and everything. - Cause he's singling me out. - Canteen issues? - They want their
canteen, their coffee, their food, their hygiene. - How much of these
canteen issues them just trying
to get their way? - He has it out for me. He has it out for me. - He cannot wait
for you to leave. - They all have issues. Issues here, issues there. Some want to stay,
some want to go. - See see look, check
this out though. I feel like they're doing
all this intimidating with their mouths cause they
aint got nothing to back it. You know what I'm saying? - Don't talk about
it, be about it. - The realities are, if
they're causing staff problems, they're causing other
inmates problems, then we'll start
by writing them up and they'll receive
misconduct reports and then if they're
level is to the point where they're elevated,
they can go spend their time at Western. - I don't like
being intimidated. I don't take it very well. (upbeat hip hop music) - So we're not three
quarters of the way through this transition and we're
still pursuing inmates. To assert their
powers over others and corrupt the system. (laughing) - Oh my God, your whole
demeanor just changed. Why are you tripping? - Oh my God. - What happened? - What the hell. Who said they showered
with her girlfriend? Marissa?
- Yeah. - Shut up. She's sitting on the other side? - Yeah. - Wow. - Tell her, is it
true or is it not? Cause if it's true,
that's what she did, then (beep) it, you know
just be honest with me but if you (beep)
lie to my face and then I find out
that it did go down, I'm gonna come
(beeps) you (beeps). Hey, she wants to talk to you. She wants you to
come out and talk. (upbeat techno music) - It's been three years
since I've had a haircut. You're not taking the
length out, right? - Yeah I'm taking
off two inches. - Two inches? Hell no. What are you stoned? Huh. Yeah, yeah. - I don't understand
that though, wanting to be high in prison. That's just insane to me. You're like wow I'm tweaked. I'm in prison, wow. I'm still in prison. You know? Like oh no way. No way. Since I've been
here in Springer, the environments different, you have more freedom. I'm different now. I want to go home. That's my only
objective, get home. Now that I've been in here, I see there was so much better that I could of done. I'm here for 15 more months and I'm here on drug charges. I'm here on trafficking. It's crazy. In February of 2018 it will
be five years and nine months. I'm more than ready to go home. More than ready. Will I do dope
when I leave here? No. You don't appreciate
what you have until you don't have it anymore. I became great
grandma in prison. This is a poem I wrote,
it's for my grandson, Zach. I know you don't know me
but I thought we could meet. Tell you a little
something about me. Most people call me Mama Dee. This place is the ugliest,
hardest part of my life. In here I feel anger,
sadness, heartbreak and strife and when I feel
it's taking over, my sweet Zachary appears
with his sweet angel smile and his sweet baby
voice rings in my ears. If ever you need me,
you'll know where I'll be. I need you, I love you. Always forever, love me. I got six grandkids who
know me as Nana Dee, she's in prison. I don't want the seventh to know me in here. I don't want him to
know me by pictures or by the telephone. I can't have that. I'm done. I don't want to do this anymore. I don't want to be
that person anymore. - It says, "Hey Buns. I'm good I guess, you know
what, yeah I love you." - "I wish I could
take you some Cheetos and a Dr, Pepper right now. Remember that? How bout coffee and
donuts every morning? Even on our bad days,
you're good to me. I remember stressing
about rent." - "I think about you every
day and I miss you so much." - "I never lived life
until you came into mine. Thank you. I wouldn't take (beep)
back, I'd do it again but this time,
I'd do it better." ♪ Happy birthday dear Kyle ♪ Happy birthday to you (cheering) - Happy birthday, baby. (tense music) - Yes it is. - Y'all have a
chair in the shower? Y'all had a (beep) chair
in the shower bitch? - Alright. Because that's now who that was and you can go in there
and ask who it was and they'll tell you. Everybody knows what? - [Inmate] You ask her
and she'll tell you. - I can't believe you
lied to my (beep) face. I gave you that one chance
to tell me the truth and you didn't
tell me the truth. - I didn't, I'm telling
we can still, I didn't. - [Katrina] You a
punk ass buster. - A buster? - Wangsta ass bitch. - On camera that's what
you want to (beeps). (beep) you. - (beep) you, bitch. We're gonna go in there. - [Inmate] Be careful. Don't follow them cause
the cops will come. We don't want the cops to come. - Oh boy, this
might not be good. (tense hip hop music) - 82 799. - I can't believe you
lied to my (beep) face. I gave you that one chance
to tell me the truth and you didn't
tell me the truth. - I didn't. - You a punk ass buster. - A buster? - A wangsta ass bitch. - On camera, that's
what you want to say? (beeps) (beep) you. - (beep) you, bitch. We're gonna go in there. - [Inmate] Be careful. We don't want the cops to come. - Oh boy, this
might not be good. (tense music) - There's a fight going on. Oh (beep). - It needed to be done. - God dang.
- Oh my god. - Son of a bitch.
- You're (beep) scratched. - She's okay. (beep) bitch got like three
good licks in, that's it. But I had that bitch
tossed all over the place. - Yes. (laughs) - This is how
disputes are settled. (energetic hip hop music) - I'm gonna miss you so much. You stay safe out there, okay? - I will. God bless. - God bless you, too. - This is the first time the
inmates are gonna be released. To not have them come back is
the biggest goal of them all. - we have women,
they will come to us with pervasive
criminal histories. They are also women
who will transition into our community
whether we like it or not. - I love you baby. - I love you too - I'll have you forever
cause I got my picture. - Yes you will. Bye mama. - So this prison experience
matters for our neighborhoods. What happens behind
our prison walls has a direct relationship
on the safety and security of our neighborhood. - Today is the day
we get to be released from department of corrections. I'm happy. My anxiety is up to here but it's a good anxiety. - You get institutionalized. You get to used to just you know a certain way of
living and it's hard to approach the real world
when you first get out there. You're like, oh you
don't know what to do. - I love you. - We did a lot of time together. We cried together,
we prayed together. We try to find ourselves
in a place like this. It's really hard. - We have the courage to
make the right investments in their transitions
back into our community. To hopefully free
them of their past. When they do return. - I love you. - I'm confidant in these women. I'm confidant in
them because one, I'm confidant in humanity and our capacity to
adapt and improve when we make those decisions. (tense music) - We were advised on the radio that there was a
fight on the compound. One of the COs actually overhear some inmates talking
in the restroom of housing unit five and they understood
that there was a fight. Here in mass control,
we have access to all the cameras in
the whole compound. The officers can't be in
every place all the time. So Master control
picks up the slack. There's footage from
inside the units and that's the front door. I got a good idea of around
the time that it happened. I'm trying to find when they
came into the housing unit so I can start looking at
the other camera angles to figure out what happened. Every time I do an
investigation on an altercation, you come to the camera
and once you have an idea of the time, there's so
many things you can see in the camera that that's
gonna tell the story there. The camera doesn't lie. Oh there it is right here. You can see them walking
into the quad now. There was a problem outside and that's why they went inside
so no one would see them. McManaway, she doesn't even
belong in housing unit five. They're gonna be coming in
this way in the restroom area. McManaway is seen
going into the housing approximately 12:46. They went into the
restroom area at 12:47. There's no reason that she
should of been in housing unit five at the time. So there is no excuse
for that either and that's something
we don't tolerate. We identified the inmate that was involved
in the altercation has been verified by
the camera system. We have our hard evidence and we're gonna be
bringing them down now. McManaway. - Physical violence is a
threat to our prison system. Inmates who are
physically violent will face punishment. - Here she comes now. There's miss I'm not having
no trouble with nobody, no issues, don't do nothing. I'm leaving in three weeks. What happened? - Leave in two weeks. - Two weeks. I guess that's a plus. Come on down. - Where we going? - To the holding cells. - For what? - Oh we'll figure it out. (low tense music) - Ms. Angelina McManaway,
she didn't follow the rules from the moments
she got off the bus. - If I put that person
back on the compound, it can turn more violent
cause now that persons been caught. So they want retaliation. - It's not just a matter
of safety for the staff but the safety of
the other inmates. When one individual
feels the level of that they can walk
into another unit and start a fight. She was wrong, she was mistaken and that's what she's
learning right now. You hope that they change, you hope that they appreciate
the level of privilege but if they don't,
I don't get to say. (tense hip hop music) - So we go to our
(mumbles) first and get on the train.
- They just called us. - Who? - Over the intercom. Yeah that's P1 right here. So its time to go. - It's time to go baby. Let's roll out. - Bye guys. - They said we could
keep the mesh bags. - Oh really?
- Yeah. Okay Let's go. Roll out ladies, let's roll out. As soon as we got on
the other side of this, we can taste the freedom. - The longer we wait the
harder my heart jumping. - I know.
- I know. - Bye guys. - [Inmate] Is that the
van with the plan? - Yeah. Get right behind me. - I love you too. Be good. - Bye. - Ready? - Bye. - Bye. - Let's go, come on. - She's possibly two weeks way and she could not be
going home in two weeks as she says. - Everybody out of
the way, let's go. - Depends on the administration
and what they decide. - Katrina leaving
affected a lot of us. She's a big
personality around us. She's a funny gal. She's good company, you know but I mean life goes on in here. (laughing) - Ms. McManaway, she
had a sense of attitude from the moment she
got off the bus. If you're ready some
day in the future, You know what I mean? - Yeah. - She didn't do what she was
supposed to do while she was here and I don't make
examples but she did this, right, she was given
the opportunity and she didn't so what
she was supposed to. So if you don't do what
you're supposed to, you don't get to stay. Fix whatever issues
you got, right? Some of it can be fixed by you, some of it's gonna take
some time, realistically. So that you qualify to be here. It's that simple, right? - Stack them please. - True to my word, aren't I? Someday maybe you'll
be ready, huh? - [Katrina] Yeah maybe. - Maybe huh? - (beep) this place and
(beep) the warden, he's wack. - Katrina. She's (beep) retarded. - This place is kind of a joke. They shouldn't of
brought me here and (beep) singled me out and then (beep) send me back. I said tell the warden he
can go (beep) himself. My chariot awaits. - What's your number? - 78 147. - Okay hold on. (low somber music) - We are done. We have had a
successful transition of our female population
into different prisons. We've settled our lower
risk female inmates into a lower risk prison
campus environment and our higher risk into
a higher risk prison. That is a phenomenal
success in my measure. - I don't know what
percentage of you sitting here thing you're gonna
get away with stuff. But you're gonna make
the mistake of seeing all this privilege and
viewing it as weakness. - If they want us to
give this place a chance they should give us
inmates a chance as well. - We will be singling
out the trouble makers from the those that are
committed to succeed and make sure that
we're housing them more appropriately. - Over there they were
trying to make us feel like oh it's such a
privilege to be here. Like you have to
act right, da da da. Like (beep) that place. - You're here now and you have to admit this
place is different, right? - With freedom
comes responsibly. You must realize that
these ladies are returning to our neighborhoods. - I got no desire
to come back here. I got no desire to go to jail. I just want to be
real for a minute. I wonder what that's like. - I believe in the ability
of a person to change. You have to want to
be a better sister, wife, mother. - I will go home
someday and be that mom and be there. I will never come back. - As good leaders, we've
given every opportunity to succeed. - What we've worked hard to
create here is possibilities, opportunities. You have to want to
try and be different. - I don't have nowhere to go. I'm probably gonna
fall right back in but I'm gonna try. (soft tense music) - As this simply breathtaking
experiment unfolds, if it works then
we need to continue that process throughout
this entire prison system. The pieces are in place. - Our success is
gonna be your success. Your success, right? Welcome to Springer. Thank you.
- Thank you.
