(upbeat music) - [Catherine] I'm more
and more gravitating towards that idea that I hope
doesn't sound like a cop out, but that almost everything
is documentary in a sense. Sophie Fiennes, the documentary maker who has worked a lot with
Slavoj Zizek, the philosopher, she said in a Q and A on stage
at the Sheffield Doc/Fest, "All art is documentary," because it's a document of the time. And in a sense I love that, because it means that, you
know, documentary is king. (mysterious music) (intense hip hop music) (sirens wailing) - You have the right to remain silent. You have the right to
have a lawyer present to advise you before and
during any questioning- - They say to understand a person, you have to walk a mile in their shoes. So that's exactly what I'm gonna do. I'm going to jail to try and understand the American criminal justice
system from the inside. America incarcerates more people than any other country in the world, and the largest population of
inmates are housed in Texas. At quite a young age I promised myself that I'd never find
myself in this position, in the back of a police car. I never thought I'd
know what it feels like to be here right now, but I'm experiencing this, even though it is under these conditions. I know I've not done anything wrong, I'm not getting a criminal
record for doing this, but there is an element of
shame, if I'm totally honest. I don't like, sort of, feeling like this. I don't like being in this position. (metal door banging) (inmates shouting) - Whoa, whoa whoa! - [Reggie] For one week I'll
be locked inside Bexar County, one of the biggest jails in the state. (inmates shouting) I'll be experiencing life as an inmate to try and find out the real
impact of being behind bars. So this is actually happening now. I'm about to head into these shutters and I guess, once that shutter
closes, that's it, I'm in. (Reggie chuckles) (police radio chatters) (dramatic music) (police radio chatters) - Any kind of jewelry, any
kind of personal items, any effects, anything like that? - Just a ring.
- Just that right there? All right, what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna take this
hand out of your handcuffs, you're gonna put it on the platform. You have any inside
pockets inside your jacket? - Yeah. - And that ring, is that
ring able to come off you? - Yes, it is. - Bring it up higher. Bring it up higher. Open your mouth up, tongue up. Lift your tongue up. Yes, sir, thank you. Go ahead, close your mouth. - [Reggie] Every day
around a hundred people enter this jail and a
hundred people leave, with a total population reaching nearly four and a half thousand inmates. So what's the reason for removing my jewelry and my shoelaces? - Well, the shoelaces, down here, number one, it's for your safety and for the safety of others. - [Reggie] After being arrested, inmates are first placed
in jail to await trial or serve short sentences. Stays here usually last under a year. - Do you have a history
of drug or alcohol abuse? - [Reggie] No. - Are you expecting to withdraw
from drugs or alcohol today? - [Reggie] No. - Do you currently believe that someone can control your mind? - [Reggie] No. - Prior to arrest, did you feel depressed, down, or take little interest in things? Are you thinking of killing yourself or injuring yourself today? - Thank you, sir. Can you
come stand right here? - You feel suicidal at all? - Don't feel suicidal, no. - Have you been seen by any
kind of mental health, or- - No.
- Put into a mental institution for any reason? No.
- Follow me. (sad pensive music) - [Officer] Are you wearing
briefs or boxers, sir? - Boxers. - Pardon me?
- Boxers. - [Officer] And what color are they? - Black. - [Officer] Careful
that doesn't spill out. Got it? (officers chatter) I sort of feel like anything
that made me me is gone. I'm a prisoner now. I'm wearing a pair of socks
that have been through the system quite a few times. (chuckles) Even down to my underwear, you know, it's all county jail. Nothing about me, right now, that's come from me. Follow you out? There are 75 units in this jail, some of which provide additional support for inmates' physical
and mental health needs. (inmate shouting) - [Officer] Go ahead
and drop your bag, sir. - I'm relieved to be taken to the unit known as AA, for low risk inmates. So it's two tiers in here? - Yes, sir. Shower area and bathroom over there, your cell's gonna be the
first one, AA01, right here. This is Officer Torres, he's gonna to be your
officer for this shift. This is inmate Yates.
- Hey. - This is Officer Torres.
- All right, nice to meet you. - And, of course, you have your lights. You turn them on and off here on the side. This is to flush the toilet. (pensive music) - Well, I won't be the first person in an orange jumpsuit who's sat on this. I've got a nice orange
stain on my mattress. (lock whirs)
(lock clanks) I think that's the sound of
me getting properly locked in. I was hoping for a window. The only window I've got looks out onto the communal area out there. I guess I won't be seeing
sunlight while I'm in here. Again, something that I
didn't really consider. (locks bleep) Within a 24-hour period, inmates in this unit are locked
away for around 12 hours. For the rest of the time, they're sent to work in
other parts of the jail or allowed a short stint
in the communal area. (inmates chattering) Everyone's been let out of
their cells at the moment, but I'm still in here behind mine, which I don't know how good
I think that is. (laughs) - [Radio] Are you ready to come out? - Yes, sir. What's up? How you doing? What's going on? What's up, what's up? What's up? My name is Reg.
- Jesus, man. - You all right? What's going on? Reggie, nice to meet you, brother. - E.
- Nice to meet you, E. - What's up, bro?
- Reggie, nice to meet you brother. Nice to meet you, nice to meet you. So you lot get a couple
of hours out here, yeah? - Yeah.
- Is this time that you lot treasure? Is this time that you all look forward to? - It's the only time we got. - I'm keen to meet as
many inmates as possible and try and get some advice on how to cope while I'm inside. What's happening?
Reggie, nice to meet you. - Jeffrey.
- Mosley. - Mose, what's that? - Mosley.
- Reggie. - You just gotta keep your mind occupied, you know what I mean? Like, you gotta read books. You know, just take
your mind off the things that aren't really happening, you know? - [Reggie] And what happens
if you don't do that? - Some people they'll trip out. Like, they snap, you know? They start to freak out. Because if you start thinking
about the worst possible things that could happen to you, your mind will go crazy, you know? - Yeah.
(inmates chattering) You're all so young. I didn't think you guys would be... How old are you, sir? - 22.
- 22. What did you do?
- Shoplifting. - Shoplifting?
- Yeah. - [Reggie] What were you trying to steal? - (laughs) T-shirts. - [Reggie] And you ended up
in here because of T-shirts? - Yeah. - [Reggie] So what was
going through your head when they put them handcuffs on? - I was like, "Oh, man." I was so mad, I was like, man, I wish I would have just never did it. - Over some T-shirts.
- Right. - What do you think your
sentence is gonna be? - A month or two, but no longer than that. You know, 'cause it's a
misdemeanor, you know? - It was just tagging on
a projector in school. That's all it was. I took a pin and I edged it in there- - No, you're kidding me. - Yeah, and a student saw
me and they snitched me out. And I was like, "Oh, you,
guy, I'm gonna get you later." - You ended up in here for that? - Yeah. - It's surprising to hear that crimes we might regard to be minor in the UK are punished by a jail sentence in Texas. (light pensive music) It's dinner time in the unit and I'm about to have my
first taste of jail food. Oh, you've got it all
figured out. (laughs) Oh, I see. You made a hamburger. Oh, man. It's just... - [Inmate] It's horrible, I know. - It's terrible, bro. After dinner, I notice there's
a new arrival in the unit. That guy's got a bag, that
means he's just coming in for the first time, right? - [Inmate] Yes. - This is 19-year-old
Alex's first time in jail. You've got a window in here,
you got more than I got. See, I didn't even know it was dark out. - Yeah.
- Do you know what time it is? - No, Reggie-
- No idea. - I don't, man, I don't. - This is my first night in here. It's your first night, right? - It's my first night as well. - How are you coping? - Like, I'm fucking (laughs)
I'm shaking right now, man. I'm just keeping myself
occupied, I'm wrecking out, I'm fixing everything I can. I'm just- - [Reggie] What is it
that's making you shake? Is it- - I have-
- Anxiety, is it fear? Is it what?
- It's anxiety, man. I have so much in my head that I'm not supposed to be here. I'm supposed to be at
work right now, you know? Taking care of my sister and my mom and my stepdad in Mexico. And he's on dialysis right now, you see? And I'd send them 200 a week, and look where I'm at right now, you know? I lost the job, I lost
my car, I'm homeless, and I don't know what's gonna
happen to my stepfather. - [Reggie] Alex has been
arrested for possession of a small amount of marijuana, which I find out he was using to combat his mental health issues. - I got diagnosed when I was 13 years old. - [Reggie] Diagnosed as what? - Bipolar, ADHD, and I was having very
suicidal thoughts at the time, where I was hearing things and I couldn't cope with those hearings. I was very, very out of there, man. I started taking the pills and those pills would calm my hearings down, but my anxiety would just pop up, man, and my depression would just pop up, man, and I used marijuana. And that's when I got
out of that facility, and then I went back again
because I started cutting myself. And then I went back again
because I tried to overdose. And then I went back again
because I tried to hang myself. - Did you mention that on
the way into this unit? - Of course not.
- Because they ask you all those questions when you come in.
- Of course not. I'm not going to say yes to those, Reggie. - Why?
- Because. If I say yes, that I
have attempted suicide, it would just lead me to somewhere very... not even a very nice place. I'm very lucky to come to this unit. In this unit, everybody is doing their... They don't wanna fight here. They just wanna do their time
and go home to their family. If I told them I attempted suicide, they would have put me on some unit where there's more people, which would give me more anxiety attacks, more problems, more
suicidal thoughts, you know? (sad music) (Alex sobs)
- It's your first night here. You ain't gonna be here that long, bro. - I miss my mom, man. I miss everybody, man. - Look, this is my first time in here. And in the little experience,
the little knowledge I have of this place, you can't be
like this on your first night. You need to pull yourself together, man. - I don't even wanna be here, man. It's driving me nuts. I hate this place. Look at the beds, bro.
How does it (indistinct)? - Come on man, it's your first
night, it's my first night. You've just gotta get
your head straight, man. All right?
- All right. - When you're done here talking to me, you gotta promise me you're
gonna go and talk to a guard because you need to speak to someone. You need someone to talk to, you need someone to be there for you, man. You've got me now. You
know that much, right? Right? Okay? - I will do that, man.
- All right. But before you go out there, just take ten minutes and
get your shit together, bro. You need to, okay?
- Okay. - Just stay calm, all right? - All right.
- You got this, man. I'm about if you need me.
I'm in number one, all right? - All right, man. Yeah. - Okay? All right? (sad pensive music) The majority of the people I've spoken to have called this one of the calmest wings that they've ever been in. You know, they call this
one of the safest bits of the prison, which is strange to hear because the minute you start to unpick some of their problems, very quickly you see them
teetering on the edge, you know. Already there's been guys in tears, there's been guys shaking in front of me, there's been people
telling me their story, not being able to hold
eye contact or, you know, or maintain a level of
conversation where it doesn't feel like they're about to spiral downwards. And this is the place where
the most together guys are. (inmates chatter) After our conversation, Alex
asked to see a counselor to tell them about his suicidal thoughts. What's happened with
Alex? Is he still here? - No, sir, actually, he
said he was having thoughts of suicide or self harm, so we had him talk to one of our mental health
counselors right now. - Okay. So where do
you think that'll lead? Is he gonna come back here or
will he go to another part? - It's actually up to our
mental health counselors. - They're gonna assess him?
- They'll assess him. If they feel that he is
in danger of self-harm, he will be placed in a suicide
protection cell or unit. - All right, thank you.
- Thank you, sir. - I'm impressed with how quickly the jail has dealt with Alex, and it's a relief to know he might now get the support he needs. (pensive music) (light pull clicks) I guess that's all the
darkness I'm gonna get. One of the strangest days ever. I'm lying here, in this bunk, under possibly the scratchiest sheet that's ever been produced. (chuckles) I'm not feeling sorry for myself. The thing that I can't stop
thinking about is Alex. You know, he's a good guy and he isn't here this evening. He's been moved to a different ward because of his suicidal thoughts. I don't know where he's
gonna end up eventually. I just hope he's all right, you know? (dramatic music) (pensive music) (bars rattle) (inmates shouting) They've given me my toothbrush
and toothpaste in a glove. (Reggie chuckles) Even on a plane you get more
of a toothbrush than that. (water trickles) This is shit. This is so rubbish! This is shit! How are you supposed to
get to anything with this? I ain't getting in the
fucking shower. (chuckles) No way am I getting in
the shower. No, sir. I mean, this is supposed to
be a pretty cool, calm pod, but, even with that being the case, mm-mm. I'm gonna be the smelly inmate with minty fresh breath. After meeting Alex, I'm keen
to hear if there are inmates in the other units suffering
from mental health issues. (metal doors thunk) Once I'm let out of my cell, I'm escorted to the wing
for more serious crimes, including murder. (light tense music)
(inmates chattering) Where we're headed to now, what is it? What's it gonna actually be like? - It's gonna be set up sort
of like where we just were, but it's high-risk. - What sort of crimes
would they have committed? - Like big possession felonies, big drug cases, murders. - So, in terms of atmosphere, is it gonna be similar to where I've been? - It's probably gonna be a little louder. (inmates shouting) - You sure I'm gonna be all right? - You're gonna be good. We're not gonna go in there. - To say things are different
is an understatement. The mood is real different in here, right? - Yes. - [Inmate] What's up? - What's up? What's up? - What's good what's good
what's good? You all right? How you doing man? - What up, what up, what up, G? - Whoa whoa whoa whoa.
- Eh, eh, eh! - [Reggie] Talk to me.
You gotta talk to me. - You know what it is? We out here sorting out the line, you know what I'm saying? Eh, eh-
- Hold up, time out! (inmates shouting) - Whoa, whoa, whoa. (inmates laughing) - [Inmate] Shh! - Without saying who, what sort of cases are
the majority of people- - Aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. - In here?
- Two of them. - Oh, murders.
- Oh yeah, right here. Murder case but I didn't do it. - A second family violence,
they enhanced it to a felony. Drinking and drugs, and being stupid. - I've been in and out of this
jail probably over 30 times. Since I was 16 years old.
- This particular jail? - And I've seen the same
people over and over. Sometimes I think that they
come in because there's issues that they don't know
how to deal with out there. They come in and they're
not really bad people, but they're just following
the same order every time. - [Reggie] I wanna know what help is given to the inmates on this wing who are dealing with mental health issues. - I commend you, I
appreciate what you're doing. I, myself, I'm schizophrenic.
I'm a mental health patient. - So, are you receiving
medication for that? - Absolutely, yes. - [Reggie] And are you
getting counseling as well? - Absolutely. Out there is I self-medicate. - [Reggie] What do you
use to self-medicate? What do you self-medicate with? - Done everything. Everything from pharmaceuticals
to methamphetamine, heroin, depending on- - [Inmate] What you can get your hands on. - Trying everything, you know what I mean? - It's reassuring to hear that some of the inmates
suffering from mental illness are receiving support within the jail. Right, thank you very much, guys. Appreciate it. - [Inmate] Shout out time! Shout out time! (inmates shouting) (ethereal pensive music) (metal gate clunks) - Returning to the AA unit for lunch, I'm surprised to see Alex
emerge from his cell. Yo, what's up, Alex?
Where you sitting, man? - I'm gonna sit over there.
- Yeah? Let's have a talk. So where did you go? 'Cause I know you went
and spoke to the guards about looking at maybe... - After we talked, I went
and I asked the guard if I can see a therapist, or
counselor or psychiatrist. The guard told me, "If I send you there, most likely you are
having suicidal thoughts." And when you have suicidal thoughts here, I didn't know that, they strip you naked and put you in a cell by yourself. I was like, "That's worse." So I told them, "No, I'm fine." But that lady, I was
telling her my problems, what I told you, and then
she told me just to man up, "Buck up and just do your time, and there's not much we can
do 'cause you're already here. I know it's tough and I
know you miss your mom." And I was crying, man. I was crying. I miss my mom, you know? But the fact is is that
there's no help here, you know? There's no help here. I couldn't sleep. I had the lights on for a while and then I saw you turn off your lights, and I was like, "If he can
sleep, I'm gonna go to sleep." - You could see my cell?
- Yeah. - You could see my cell window? - Mm-hm. - We both had our first night last night. - I saw you turn off
your lights and I'm like, "I'm going to turn off my lights, then." So I turned off my lights
and I counted 100 backwards and I fell asleep.
(light pensive music) - Truth be told, I always promised myself that I would never be in prison, ever. And to be here, and to be complicit in the fact that I am still here, is something that doesn't
really rub for me. You know, it's weird. I am the reason that I'm here and I can change it at any moment. Nobody is keeping me here,
but I want to be here now. I think I need to be here out of respect to the fact
that these guys are telling me their deepest and darkest. So, night two. I'm about to get my head down again after having some noodles for din-dins. And then it's another night in here. I think I might skip that 2
AM breakfast today, though. I think I might do that.
(light pensive music) (dramatic music) (pensive music) - Morning, morning,
morning. How are you doing? - [Reggie] Today I'm joining Michael, one of the inmates from my
unit who has been given a job on the psychiatric wing. - Where to?
- One. - [Officer] One and four. - This is one of the only jails in America with a facility dedicated
to mental health. This is what you gotta
wear. This is uniform. In there?
- Yeah. - I have no idea what I'm
walking into right now. There's boots in here.
Why would you need boots? - A lot of times the guys
will flood their floors and we've gotta clean them all up and stuff like that a lot
times, and we have to do that. So, we put boots on so you don't get all the stuff all over you. Feces, you know, urine, stuff like that. Sometimes it's nasty, it really is. - [Reggie] So how often and how regular is it that there's gonna be feces- - It's on a daily basis, sometimes. (pensive music) (inmate banging on door) - [Reggie] This guy's made
a bit of a mess in here. - [Michael] Yeah, he does
this a lot, stuff like that. - [Reggie] Yeah.
(lock beeps) There are 52 beds for
mentally ill inmates, all in constant use. And in this unit they're
confined for 23 hours a day. The first time you came down
here, what was you thinking? Because this couldn't be more different to the pod we stay in. - Oh, it's totally different, yeah. When I first came down here,
I didn't know what to think about all this and it took a
little bit of getting used to. - [Officer] No, go ahead
and put it under the door. - All right
- All right, I'll get it. Just a minute. - [Officer] Get all of
it up under the door. (inmate banging on door)
- Jail staff supervise the cells and a separate medical team handle the inmates'
mental health treatment. Apparently, these inmates are
all incredibly unpredictable, so, during clean-up, they
get taken out of their cells and we're sort of left to
work the mess, as it were. - Nigger!
- So, we'll see what happens.
- Nigger! Nigger! - It sounds like this guy over here isn't the biggest fan of
me chatting away on camera. - Nigger!
- Yeah, he thinks I'm talking about him
and he's given me a name, which, uh,
- Fucking nigger! - I've got a feeling
this is gonna be repeated the entire time that I'm in here, so I'm gonna try and get used to that. - [Inmate] I've got an 18-inch dick. - Oh!
- 18-inch love, baby. - Oh, man.
- Wah! - Wow.
- I've got an 18-inch fucking dick. (inmate banging on door) - I think, if Alex were to come in here, it wouldn't take long for him
to feel incredibly intimidated and not really be able to handle it. I mean, the state that he
was in on that first night, if he did come in here, I
mean, this is far worse. This is infinitely worse. - [Officer] He's writing on his window. - [Reggie] It's not long before the inmate escalates his behavior from
shouting to a dirty protest. (inmate shouts)
- Why? - I've not been told what
sort of a mess he's made, but I can smell it.
- What is that? (tense music) - [Officer] Hands up. - [Reggie] They're handcuffing him first. It looks like he already
knows the protocol. - [Inmate] I'm safe. (inmate mumbles) - [Officer] Relax. - [Inmate] I want my cookies. They told me they was gonna
give me a cookie if I behave. (inmate mumbles) (inmates chattering) - [Inmate] Start moving
everything to the other side so we can do the other one. - I wanna know if what Alex heard about the suicide unit is true, so I'm going to see for myself. (sad pensive music) Normally, individuals with
more serious mental illnesses are placed in hospitals
rather than a jail. But with psychiatric beds in short supply, that's not possible for every case. Hey, officer, how you doing? - [Officer] I'm all right. - So this is the suicide
watch unit, right? - This is the suicide unit. - [Reggie] So what's different
about this unit to the usual? - Basically here, they give
them what they call smocks. And they're not allowed
to have towels with them, any kind of uniform, socks. Because they can use it to commit suicide, to hang themselves or something, so all we give them is
just a smock and that's it. - [Reggie] And the smock is the
green sort of, sheet, right? - The green, yeah, that's about it. They don't wear nothing underneath
other than their sandals. - [Reggie] They're naked under the smocks? - [Edward] Right. - It is distressing to see how ill some of the inmates are in this unit. But what's more worrying
is the responsibility for providing care for them is
in the hands of a local jail. I wanna speak to one
of the senior officers about how Bexar County balances its role between being an ordinary jail
and a psychiatric facility. Hey, officer. How you doing? - Hey, all right, how you doing? - Good to see you again.
- How did you sleep, all right?
- I'm OK, I'm OK. I'm still unsure where
I'm allowed to stand. Am I cool to be-
- You're good. Yeah, over here is good. You're all right. You're all right. - Black and yellow lines has got me super paranoid.
- Black and yellow. Yes, sir. You're good. - [Reggie] I've been
on clean-up duty today. - [Eric] How did you like that? - Not massively. There was
a dirty protest earlier. We had to clean that up, that wasn't fun. But the psych ward, I mean, it's packed. Every cell is full.
- Yeah. - There weren't just doctors
there, there were also officers as well.
- Right, right. - I mean, who takes control of that unit? Is there more doctors than officers there? What's the balance? - Security and safety
is always number one. Doctors, of course, doctors
and nurses, you know, we don't overrule their medical advice. If somebody needs help, of course, we'll try to make sure they get the help that the doctors and nurses
can step in and help them. But, first and foremost,
it's always security. If there's something that's gonna put them in an unsafe situation,
we will step in for that, to make sure that that doesn't happen. Some of those guys over
there really do need help. You actually get some of the
guys over there that won't eat. They'll stare at you, they won't blink. They'll just start talking to themselves, they'll start talking to other people, they'll start yelling. I mean, anything and everything
that you can think of. I mean, it's not a movie. It's real life. It actually happens. - So, for some of these
more extreme cases, you know, the guys who
are doing dirty protests, the guys who are in a
cell with nothing in it wrapped in a green sheet, what kind of treatment are
they getting beyond medication, beyond the pills? - They do get to actually
see the psychiatrist, so they do get that personal help, whether or not they've
got it on the outside, they do actually get it in here. They do get to talk to somebody. - So there's regular counseling? - They do get regular counseling on that, so they do get that. So if they move on, beyond that, whether they get it or not and follow up with their treatment when
they get out of here, that's something else to be said. But while they're here,
they do get that part of it. - And what determines when they get out? Them serving time for their crime or the mental health professional saying, "OK, you are now stable"? What's the decision?
- Their crime. Their crime. When their time is up for their
crime, that's when it's up. - [Reggie] So, in your
personal opinion, then, do you think they should be
getting their treatment here, or in a medical facility? - A medical facility. I think they do need
to get their treatment in a medical facility. This environment is not gonna
get them help that they need. I think it's a quick fix. We keep getting the same people back here, over and over and over again. I mean, there's people that get in here, they come in here at least once a month for criminal trespassing,
people that shouldn't be here. You know they're crazy, they can't even say what their name is, but yet we find them over here because they were somewhere drinking or they didn't get their
medication and we find them right back and everyone
can tell you their names. I mean, we know some of the same people over and over and over again. Right. Yeah. (tense pensive music) - [Reggie] Bexar County
are doing their best, but with inmates often finishing sentences regardless of their psychiatric progress, and many not getting the
necessary help on the outside, it's no wonder so many
come back again and again. When I get back to the AA unit,
Alex is struggling to cope. What's on your mind, man? - I wanna go home, yeah.
- Yeah? (inmates chattering) Yo, Alex. Hold it together, man. Hold it together, brother, all right? So what is it that's
making you so worried? What's on your mind? - I feel like I've been
here for a long time. - Yeah. Is it just not having
enough to pass the time? Is that what's getting to you? - Yeah. - Have you thought about
trying to get a job? - They were supposed to give me one. - I was working in medical with Michael, you know, one of the older guys? So we were cleaning medical,
but there was a dirty protest. Do you know what one of those things are? You know what a dirty protest is? It's when someone makes a
protest using their own feces. - Ew!
- In their cells. - You had to clean it?
- And we had to go and clean it up, yeah. - Oh, Reggie, that's tough! I thought I had it tough. (laughs) - Yeah, you're sitting here in your cell, chilling, reading your
Bible, and you're like, "I got it tough." I was cleaning-
- Shit! - Shit today.
(inmates laugh) - Oh, man. - So while you think that
you're having a tough time reading your Bible-
- I'm sorry, man! - Sitting on your own. I'm there trying my
hardest not to get doo-doo under my fingernails, bro. Someone else's doo-doo. - [Alex] You don't get gloves? - Yeah, I got gloves. I'm just trying to make it
sound worse than it was. - [Alex] Oh! (laughs) - The longer I spend in this jail, the clearer it becomes how
challenging this environment can be, especially if
you're mentally vulnerable. So you not only have diabetes, but you suffer with depression. You suffer with depression.
Have you ever had any issues? What have you had to deal with? - Depression as well. Depression. - So do you think then, if
people were genuinely honest when it came to being booked
in, and ticked the right boxes, there would be a much higher number- - Yes.
- Of people that the institution were
aware of that need help? - Of course. - That have psychological issues, or mental health problems. - [Inmate] Right, right. - Goodnight, brother. Just based on my own personal experiences, and based on some of the things that I've been through in my own life, it's very easy for me to spiral downwards when things get difficult, you know, and to go into myself and to
not wanna really communicate, or not to really want to express myself. And I think that's what's
happened with Alex. He's definitely spiraled
downwards at several points. I thought that this place
would be about the physical. I thought it would be about aggression. I thought it would be about
throwing your weight around and making sure that people
wouldn't mess with you, when, in reality, really, it's about what's
happening in your own mind and it's about the battle
that you are fighting with yourself, in letting anxiety and
depression beat you. They're the two things
that everybody I speak to seems to suffer with. They're the two things
that everybody I speak to says this place magnifies, which you can understand 'cause, if you're sleeping in here every night, of course you're gonna get depressed, of course you're gonna feel anxious. (dramatic music) (locks bleep) Yo. Just feeling that little
bit of sun on your face is real nice, man. It's pathetic. I feel ridiculous. But, just not seeing sunlight is enough to make you get excited about this. I can honestly say that I've
never been in a situation this oppressive before. I've never sort of had these feelings of frustration, of being out of control. I mean, I'm not a control freak, but for my entire adult life, I've been in charge of
where I go, what I do, when I eat, what I eat. And having that taken away,
I mean, it's a small thing, but you're under a microscope here. Everything feels magnified,
everything feels bigger, everything feels exaggerated. I don't like what this
is doing to my mind. I don't like how strong I'm needing to be to silence certain anxieties or some feelings of depression, even. That room is depressing. The fact you can't turn the
light out is oppressive. If I was in a lesser state of mind, I'd be really worried for
myself, being in here, 'cause I'm starting to see how
this place messes with you. (inmates chattering)
(metal doors thumping) This morning, I'm going to
speak to the man in charge of the day-to-day running of
this jail, Deputy Chief Reyes. (tense music)
- Code Two. Bravo Echo. - What's that, code two?
- Code two, yes. - What does that mean? - It's an officer in need of assistance. - [Reggie] As soon as I meet him, there is an incident
that needs his attention. - It may not be a fight,
maybe two inmates arguing and the officer's trying
to de-escalate it. - [Officer] The elevator, right here. - Gotta stay with you. I forget that you look like
an inmate running around. (Deputy Chief Reyes laughs) - Inmate running probably
doesn't go down very well, I'm sure.
- Exactly. (upbeat elevator music) - Oh, this is-
- Some elevator music for you. - Pretty fitting music on
the way up to a code two, as you do. (Deputy Chief Reyes laughs) Here we go.
(tense music) - Just hold on, hold on.
Watch out, watch out. Move out of the way. Stay to the side.
- Move, move, move! - [Officer] Let's go.
Return back to your cell. - What the hell just happened? - So what happens is you have what we call a disruptive inmate, so the
officer initiated a code two so the response team can come to the unit and prevent the incident from escalating to a use of force or to a fight. - [Reggie] So, who exactly are the team? I saw them in the mental health unit. - Right, the individuals-
- These guys, these guys moved a lot quicker today. - Yeah. (laughs) So, the individuals dressed in green are what we call our special
emergency response team, it's a really neat feature
to have in our facility, but they receive special training in not only in weapons and tactics, but in crisis negotiation,
hostage negotiation, firefighting. - Hostage negotiation?
- Right. - Have you ever had anything
like that happen here? - No, luckily, we've never had to deal with a hostage issue here. - [Reggie] Once the
situation is settled down, Chief Reyes explains the
pressures the system faces in handling mental health. - We're seeing this all across America, the jails are becoming the de facto mental health facilities. With the defunding of
mental health hospitals, the mental health inmates end
up making their way into jails and our primary purpose is security. We end up having to serve
as a treatment facility. - So if the jail is acting
as a treatment facility and you're treating people, how responsible for these
inmates once they've been treated and their time served are you guys? - While they are in our custody we're completely responsible for them, whether they're mental health or not. Once they get released, then the responsibility falls
on them to do follow-up care. And we try to connect
them with the services out in the community so they can continue those medications- - They're not gonna do that, are they? - Well, can't force them
to do it. They're adults. We'll reach out to the family sometimes. We have certain restrictions on release. So if we know that there is
a mental health individual who doesn't do very well at night, we have what we call a daylight release. - But you can't do that
for everyone, though. I mean, if I were a citizen,
I wouldn't expect you guys to be running checkups on everyone. - Right.
- I would expect you to be focused on the people
coming through the door. So you can't be responsible
for people once they leave. - The jail doesn't have the resources to do that after care
follow-up, if you will, but there are programs in the community that specialize in that and
it's a matter of connecting those individuals with those resources. But, like with anything, we
can't force them to do it. (tense pensive music) - Returning to the AA unit, I hear Alex has had some good news. He's been given a job while
he's in jail and could, in the next month, be
moved to a rehab facility to complete his sentence. - How did it go? How much longer does that
mean you'll be in here? - A week or two, maybe three, tops. - How do you think you'll
cope in here for another week? 'Cause you've been kinda up and down. - [Alex] I've got people
here that are good people. - [Reggie] And you've got a job now, too, so you've got something
to keep you occupied. - Yeah, man. Yeah, I got a job. I'm feeding people now! (laughs) - (laughs) So you're feeling comfortable and you're feeling confident
in being here for more time? - Yeah, I've got Warren here, I got Dee, my homeboy right here,
they're all good people. - Yeah.
- They're all good people. - One of the things that did worry me about you on the first night
was that you were having suicidal feelings and suicidal thoughts. Is that the case now? Do think that that might happen again? - It makes me think it, but knowing that I have so much, that, if I did, I have so much to lose, you know, so it's not worth it. I'm not gonna be here for long. But I don't want to get too
comfortable either, man. I don't wanna be here at all! It's not a good place to live. So, I'm gonna keep my head up strong, and even though I have bad thoughts, I'm gonna just pray to God. That's what I do all the time,
when I have those thoughts, just pray to God. That's what my mom says. She says it can rain for a long time, but it can't rain forever. - I'm not sad to leave at all, I'm not sad to see the back of this place, but I feel just really shit for these guys 'cause they've gotta stay here. A lot of people've gotta stay here for hell of a long time, as well. And, you know, they're
good kids, most of them, they've just done some
stupid things to get here. I don't know, man, I mean, nobody's here by accident, everybody's done something. But, in my humble opinion,
should they all be here? Should they all be in jail
for what they've done? No. Come on, man, if you're 19
and you steal a T-shirt, should you go to jail? For a month. That just breeds resentment. I don't think that that rehabilitates. So I am looking forward to
getting my arse out of here because this isn't a place
for me, by any means. But, you know, I've met some good people, who've done some stupid things, and hopefully won't be
seeing this place again, but who knows? I'll be leaving tomorrow morning and as Alex is due to start
a night shift in his new job, I say my goodbyes now. Yo. - Hey, Reggie. - By the time you wake up in the morning, I'll probably be out of here. 'Cause I wanna go first
thing, pretty much. About 10, 11 O'clock, I reckon it'll be. - Oh, wow.
- I'll be out of here, so you'll still be working,
if not fast asleep, right? - [Alex] Yeah. All right. - Pleasure meeting you, man.
- You, too, Reggie. - Come here, bruv.
- Come here, bro. Yeah, gimme a hug. Hey, hey, I never got your last name. - Yates.
- Yates? - Yeah.
- Like, not Gates, Yates.
- (chuckles) Yeah. - All right, all right,
all right, all right. - Keep your head up, bro. - Reggie Yates. I'm
gonna look you up, man. - Please do.
- All right. (dramatic music) (water trickles) - I mean, there's no direct
windows to the sunlight. So you have to sort of
judge by little bits of light that come through, and, yeah, it looks like there might just be a nice bit of sun out there today. Perfect day for release, I think. (hopeful pensive music) - Nice meeting you, man.
- You too, bruv. - Hey, be careful, bro.
- I'll try. I'm out. Nice to meet you. Pleasure to meet you. I'm out, man.
- Whoo! (officers chatter) - It's so crazy, just being
this close to the exit door. You can hardly feel, you
can feel how different the air feels on your face and it just smells
different in here, as well. - All right, sir, do me a favor. Can you have a seat on that metal bench? We'll be right with you. (tense pensive music) - [Officer] Yates, Reginald. - That's me. - Good luck. - Give us your right hand. Thumb. We're doing one of each, one at a time. - As my time here comes to an end, I can't help but question whether jail is the right environment for
some of the inmates I've met. Every item of clothing that I put on, I'm starting to feel more
and more like me again. It's the strangest feeling in the world. (chuckles) Yes. This is me. Incarcerating such large numbers of people for such low-level crimes seems to create more problems than it solves. Bexar County are doing
more for the mentally ill than most jails, but the system as a
whole has some way to go before it's really working
for those who need it. My eyes are killing me! Urgh. Never again. (pensive music)
Mirror for Canada pls
This is an episode of "The Insider" from 2016, not 2021.
Mirror found here:
https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x4leomp
This is the least accurate portrayal of county jail I think I've ever seen.