Dangerous Drives Prisoner Transport

when America's most dangerous criminals head to prison extradition agents drive on the open road anything can happen Kelly do on any given day sanaa agents face attack collision and ambush oh shut up in this town big house can be deadly prisoner transport makes for a dangerous Drive you this passenger van tearing down the highway carries deadly cargo inside our murderers rapists gangbangers and drug dealers all that's stopping these criminals from escape are metal grates and these men Gordon Brooks is the founder and director of a prisoner transport company us extradition agent Danny Lowe is his partner Jeremy keep your hands on top the fish come down to a foot pack search we'll hook you up one at a time to the US thousands of convicts need transfers every day Norm's Rico Gordon Brooks employs over 40 men and women to keep up with demand his agents cover over 12 million miles each year transferring inmates from jail to prison Blake's delivering parole violators and returning fugitives we're basically transporting America's deadliest future this nation walk we're the middleman in between that arresting agency and their final destination these are some pretty bad news that we deal with on a day-to-day basis two year veteran Danny Lowe is a promising young agent second rose to the left I feel this is a very dangerous job you start to get used to it you start to get comfortable with it but the element of danger will always be there as long as you have an inmate on board as much respect as you give me an agent Brooks is exactly what you're gonna get back the less respect the less respect you get that understand with a fleet of over 30 vehicles US extradition moves up to 1500 criminals each month and business is booming there's always another mission we have missions on top of missions simultaneously going the job ahead is the toughest yet you're ready to get started to prison I've been ready to get this better raise what it is the marathon covers three thousand eight hundred and sixty intense miles with inmates itching to escape the first stop is a murderer in upstate New York then through Pennsylvania and Ohio to Kentucky for a 32 convict mass pickup they'll push on through Texas and Arizona to the finish line Sacramento California over the next five days the brutal cross-country roadtrip will test their limits fatigue is gonna be a very big issue it's gonna beat the heck out of both of us and it's long and nasty on the road to prison what can go wrong often does this is all that's left of a prison van after it collided with a big rig on an Alabama highway Friday a typical transport can turn deadly in a matter of seconds missus say the van burst into flames on impact killing everyone inside on this treacherous trip Brooks and Lowe can't afford to lose focus it was a wild afternoon in Santa Fe County that started off with an inmate escape and ended with a deadly crash on Airport Road you can be killed every day every day is a different day every day you have to be on guard be on top of your game to meet their grueling schedule the agents hit the road by early morning know I love you as always let love you Carla the agents wives know each goodbye could be the last soon as you get there I love you be careful do please he likes to tell me that his job is not dangerous but I believe otherwise I get scared a lot out on the highway Brooks and Lowe mentally prepare for rebellion and resistance when they're coming out of the jail cell that's their chance to try to flex their muscle to the timid a Jew first thing they're doing was sizing us up and this is where your command presence come into play my wife calls it my agent voice swell up just a little bit got to put a little bit more air in your body just make yourself look a little bit bigger to control combative prisoners and stay on the road they need the right vehicle transport vehicles drive a quarter million miles annually and last only three years each this drive requires the star member of the fleet we have approximately 35 vehicles in our fleet but uh this is the ultimate in prisoner transport vehicles it's the Big Daddy vehicle the mall welders in Fort Worth Texas customize the Ford e350 van with inmates in mind first they install thick eight gauge steel cages that slide to separate problem prisoners the crew covers all bolts so inmates can't unscrew them metal bars under each seat prevent prisoners from passing makeshift weapons Big Daddy is fully loaded with a color camera and monitors to guard against escape plots the onboard bathroom makes stopping unnecessary with a 235 horsepower engine and 37 gallon tank Big Daddy is a fast traveling jail cell and agents are Highway wardens today extradition agents Gordon Brooks and Daniel O start a 3,800 mile prisoner transfer the longest of their careers at 10:00 a.m. on day one they're 50 miles from Syracuse New York yes agent Brooks Director of Operations US extradition good good we're about ten miles out we're out to pick up mr. Robert Davis Phoenix the first job order is from the central New York Psychiatric Center this is not normal typical day prison this is a maximum-security psycho acting unit inmate Robert Davis moves today from a psych ward to prison to begin a life sentence for capital murder we take no no individual lightly this individual is a bad do this based upon these charges this jail contains over 200 mental patients 1998 Davis shot two men on a city street corner Brooks secures the felon with waist chains double locked handcuffs and foot shackles he checks and rechecks the steel chains carelessness could spell disaster on the road they're very crafty bastards and they will take you out and give an opportunity you have to be on point at all times stand back over there all right come on in take a seat any questions concerns about anything sir no who is that time you eat all right oh well okay all right amazing Brooks I run operations we're not gonna have any problems correct No little paychecks are are a little bit different these individuals are unstable they're taking a lot of medications at any given point may not be in the right frame of mind mr. Davis yeah okay when you take your meds next oh about eight tonight okay what are your medication for Oh schizophrenia mental patients wear green jumpsuits but all rules of the road still apply there's still handcuffed wasting and late shackle and treat it just as any other inmate at any given time Brooks and lo can't take chances especially while transferring a lifer the murder guys they're the worst to do is because they don't they don't have anything to lose there they know where they're going if they escape or if they get in trouble on the van you can't add any more time to life sentence even with a convicted murderer behind them the agents can't overlook the road ahead still just driving down these roads so my trucks like to cut you off young kids and fast cars like to cut you all typical everyday driving situations then they're amplify cos we spend so much time on the road for the next 100 hours 3,000 miles and ten states they'll face all of the hazards the road offers up we got to be concerned at all times with the basic road conditions of describing a vehicle period traffic weather detours minor incidents become life and death scenarios with inmates on board day one of the drive stretches in tonight right now it is one o'clock in the morning prison transport is no nine-to-five job about a five minutes away from Greensburg Pennsylvania to pick up a male and a female inmate depending on the facilities we can pick up inmates 24 hours a day seven days a week with fatigue bearing down the agents push to stay alert the next inmate has a history of violence we have to be on our guard even though it's late evening due to the male inmate we're picking up he is a wanted for capital murder in the state of Texas agent Lowe US extradition picking up one male one female tonight James Edwards takes his second trip with US extradition this time he returns to Huntsville Texas on murder charges say the same right there Laura Spencer faces drug charges in Corpus Christi to keep order the agents use Big Daddies sliding cages to separate males and females that ones wrangling no BS you understand the agents roll on for 60 more miles before they can rest after 17 hours on the job low exits in your Pittsburgh and drives toward a local prison to house the inmates normally we can call any facility in the nation get a Percy home for overnight housing and there he pulls up at a local motel so we can get some rest inmates can't stay at just any motel the agents rely on jails for courtesy holds ages low us extradition every courtesy old hey guys listen up we're gonna get in here for the night we're gonna go and go get some sleep hold that first thing in the morning McGee can float it up yeah I don't make any moves when I've these doors opening okay inside the warden's unshackle the inmates for sleep but the level of supervision varies at each local prison inmates could arm themselves or arrange for help escaping that individual may go into a holding cell may have access to the phone and make a phone call to one of these gangbangers or fellow comrades in the criminal justice system but to sleep it's a risk they must take with the inmates secured the agents drive to the nearest motel for a few hours rest sleeping is a very fine luxury that we sometimes do get any rest they grab now is key they have four more punishing days to go agents Brooks and lo drive cross-country with dangerous criminals in a prison band after the first night stop they're back on the road for day two by Dawn glad you feel the day man I'm good now you got a little beauty sleep took a nice little hot shower we're ready to perform at the Ohio border they've done 500 miles and now have four inmates in back to are in for murder command this is Alpha Team Leader the advisors were pulled off copy that mother fine State Police midday food stops are necessary but tense whenever the vehicle is stopped and you have civilians around you those I think are the most dangerous times that we have for anything that happen the other time fellas that's we're most vulnerable we're stationary we're not a moving target at that point we're sitting ducks once those doors open you've just opened the whole world and all the environment to those inmates to do whatever they've been back there thinking about well we're happy meal number one every meal number two hey captain meal number four oh I got the POI no no open the toys all toys ginetto open toy straws cups and toys may look harmless but could become weapons within seconds guys when you're done and I need your straws back we're out the toilet toy could be used as a weapon this isn't a road trip with vacation trip where we're giving out happy meals and toys I'm making use this about anything for a weapon especially sitting behind these bars and the fine facility had nothing else better to do with fine ways they'll probably get out of handcuffs ways chains and shackles and take you out rich you have this company a straw even when stopped the agents can't rest for a split second most trips last three days the stress of this one is mounting for low my body's exhausted and we're not even close to being finished on this trip we still got out of seven eight more states to go through and and we got 30 more inmates to pick up and we just started this back on the road Brooks gets a troubling call about tomorrow's 30 prisoner pickup in Kentucky angels I received so far from our agents on ground in Kentucky that these inmates that were picking up are very highly agitated at this present moment we had to physically move a couple of them from one cell to another cell they're already wound up which means it's gonna be even more intensified when we get there if Brooks and Lowe can't gain control off the bat their chances of reaching the finish line are slim I think Angelo and our security detail gonna have a handful this is where and go to work the next morning to keep surprise on their side they roll in at 5:00 a.m. right now in their sleep we're going here with this change around the change and a little weight football daddy's here to take you home and we're here at Ohio County and Kentucky we're about to start this major mass move situation it's early morn hours we're about to go in there with these inmates up and start rocking it wrong the mass pickup requires 64 shackles six additional agents and three extra vans to carry all the prisoners this dangerous drive just got 10 times bigger early morning in Northern Kentucky a team of agents from us extradition preps for a mass move of 32 prisoners this is the big one we're gonna start figuring out who's going where and line them up make sure they've got their property money meds and paperwork and we're gonna get everybody start rolling across the United States agent Brooks starts with the two women push the arms girls turn around prisoners coming in many different forms any kind of law you could break is what we transfer to cut down on confusion they color code the uniforms inmates traveling in the follow vans get red vests turn around face the wall the worst of the group riding on Big Daddy gets standard orange with over 30 inmates mistakes are more likely I'm one of just double-checking agent Brooks with cuffing technique you want to make sure all that stuff secure when we get them out you want to get a kick in the face okay what is your name the new inmate seem compliant but Brooks knows he's being watched individuals are sizing you up can I take this guy is he's shaky putting on the handcuffs you have to know your job inside now turn it off bring them out at only 6 a.m. they slip behind schedule the convoy bands are late with his hands tied Brooks loads the inmates into a holding yard to wait tell me once you're inside the cage we got 20 missions on the team come without transport vans the agents focus on who they've got on the ground escape attempts often occur during the confusion of transit the advice having guns and vehicles unlikely seeming inmates may be the first to flee but we don't know exactly how they were able to do it a prisoner looking to run takes any chance presented extremely late they are more dangerous they are more desperate they are still armed and we consider them extremely dangerous the other side he pulls a gun and says give me the keys he said hidden you keys or I kill you yeah what's your status the convoy Vandelay allows the inmates to establish who's who before the trip even starts right now with this ascertain who we have on board who we dealing with trying to identify any type of cliques they're performing cliques pit inmates against the agents and encourage rebellion on the van right now I see two or three kliks they're joined together as you see over there to do this all chatting up in the old age um he's an OG right there both of them done some serious time in prison they're starting to click up so we got continued to monitoring conversation and their activity hey boss man oh man we're talking a little bit about your tattoos I see that big touching back your neck what is all that about just culture okay all about culture you know any gang affiliation yes sir who do you run one night cream nothing change so what's your stance with for the LAN Kings locked up nothing right now okay have you denounced your gang no sir the Latin Kings have an estimated 100,000 members as the convoy pushes through the next six states they'll cross areas where the Latin Kings have influence yeah what's your status sorry how far after 40 minutes the vans are still in route all they can do is wait yeah Dukes hi after an hour tempers flare you got business to do my business between me and my guy and I'm gonna take her there that comes before your business any other business on this earth I thank you I'm letting you know that cuz you cuffs will come off your bench huh just as inmate attitudes erupt the convoy bands arrive the agents meet to go over the route I'm gonna whip the old Tennessee okay but he's following us okay then we're gonna go to West Memphis let's make it happen let's do it to the van but still throw two straight lines until I'm straight well inside let's go right on up regulars dischargeability bigger they're already a handful can't even wait for what the rest of the strip's gonna bring they're already starting out so uh hey it's gonna be fun we're going all the way Kelly right that's a long-ass ways away mm-hmm I'm going with you it's me and you the whole way so me and Brooke so they're two people that you you don't want to piss off right now extradition agents Gordon Brooks and Danny lo just picked up 32 prisoners in Kentucky now at mid-morning the four-band convoy flies south through Kentucky inside the lead van Big Daddy one inmates voice rises above the rest Stephen Montgomery known as California returns home to Sacramento for drug and theft charges yeah we have one guy back there right now that he's the ringleader he's the one that's in charge of of the comedy and in this smart remarks ringleaders can turn the van against the agents in minutes as it is we contemplate you have individuals that's going to take control of the day and start speaking up he's going to be the basic spokesperson or the ringleader of that group the unrest grows but Brooks is forced to stay on track tonight they pick up the deadliest fugitive they've ever encountered and they can't be late we have a very high-profile inmate being flown in from Puerto Rico who attempted to commit murder on a police officer and is a white supremacist berry very bad dude the fugitive lands tonight at an airport 300 miles away the convoy has no time to waste but as the miles tick by order evaporates on a prison ban chaos is dangerous Brooks stops the vehicle to regain the upper hand hey keep it up hey P block just what we're gonna do right here okay you wanna get off point man we're gonna do a restroom great any questions thank you all right let's go keep it quiet pop it up okay give me two is warmed up right here on me right here keep a quiet man face time allows Brooks to assert control with the ringleader Steven my gummy somebody dear Disney is that they ain't is it bring me over when it's the block man I made my block see me right hey mr. kelvil what's up with you in your attitude man I - it is man we getting treat like this man you Femi those are hot girls okay we got my kissing asses to these deputies no matter fact you ain't no deputies man right now you're in our custody all right Brooks can see the inmates attitudes are worsening but he has no more time for talk the airport is still 200 miles away on isolated stretches of highway the agents stay on high alert empty roads invite ambush an ambush is when somebody wants that person out of that van and they'll stop at nothing to do it the nightmare situation say you just picked up a high-profile individual a gang banger from a facility you see a Jeep following you telling you for the last 2530 miles you don't know who you're dealing with it's not our job to find out it's our job to get hold of emergency personnel and have them respond to assist us ambush is an extradition agents worst nightmare it's 4:00 p.m. Big Daddy must meet the fugitive in two hours this individual was a high-profile gang member was involved in attempted assassination of a police officer while awaiting trial Ken Greenwood fled the country he had no Puerto Rico where he to stop and continue about thorn' he's over there Greenwood returns to the States today with a thicker rap sheet and a bigger reason to attempt escape this is the bad guy this is the baddest of the bad we thought he was going to win a little vacation trip overseas but it didn't quite work that way if you're asking the wrong mother how they caught me because I thought I had it this individuals will be very trouble on the truck Gilardi okay listen up you going inside this vehicle will have maybe seen you understand okay I hear you okay - I understand okay now here you act up you deal with it otherwise you've been going a different route now you're gonna do to that all right rock and roll friends let's go the Vans already full of angry inmates with this addition the agents may lose all control it's evening on day three of a massive prisoner transfer agents Gordon Brooks and Danny Lowe just added a deadly fugitive to the crowd of criminals it's up to Brooks and lo to deliver the attempted cop killer can Greenwood to waiting federal officials this is the bad guy this is the baddest of the bad news there isn't anything worse in the world than a cop for that view this individual takes out anyone only a few miles down the road and already Greenwood dominates the van gotta get all up in my pretty little grill the other inmates feed off the fugitives energy with Greenwood on board the ride becomes more dangerous by the second knock it off listen up guys I swear to god every time he keep it up it's clear he's too hostile for a group ride they need him off the van you say yeah but it's broke out they call in a private vehicle to send Greenwood straight to the federal marshal all right sir move a little trip to good luck that I think this about be nasty the second the agents feel in fight they put hands on and go to work I'd gone back bed when he resists the agents slap him with a restraint called the hog-tie the awesome Hercule Oh mother going bang damn that's people talk to you bro I know everybody want to talk to me I'm Paco oh I'm famous an agent takes Greenwood directly to the Marshalls we're going to search apartment three to the Morrises headline we place hands wanna be still continue to resist I probably get them on the ground we gave them verbal commands to comply human twos he does loss to that's always our my face map it just snapped basically handcuffing from behind but better control can ran away steam from the back his handcuffs down to his leg show we're trained we bets that's what we do the guys on board they now know what they get serious you're gonna get handled that was probably the worst one I've transferred yet Oh Mena's look in the meanest acting the biggest charges ones I've transferred you the agents can't let the adrenaline high distract them they're still on the clock with a cage full of inmates right round two it's over 1,900 miles to the end of the road Sacramento California day for today they'll log over 1,200 miles of desert in West Texas New Mexico and Arizona at a jail in Cold Spring Texas they'll drop off seven inmates but take on seven more a risky proposition this late in the game once we get this group of individuals on board and some of these individuals will be getting off for the whole chemistry of the van will change they're all gonna start pumping their chest up they're back there with their cliques right now well now I'm introducing more people by late morning they arrived in Cold Spring convicts waterslide in down the middle clump everyone in let's move it slide on down break it off against the wall the seven inmates who've reached their destination get their old clothes back for the new batch of seven getting shackled the drive is just beginning this late in the game new blood could cause tension behind the cages throughout day for the crew does drop-offs in Alamogordo New Mexico and then Phoenix Arizona where the convoy splits off tonight Brooks and lo are looking at a brutally late shift they can see troubles ahead I love Rokoff you can get nice chemistry as you can see it's starting to change business still out all right I mean California team is got job with the Texas crew pretty much starting to set in and this is still out we got a long night Bozarth Gordon grabs a rest in the follow vehicle while Danny drives the graveyard shift everybody telling you just an hour later Lowe's patience is wearing thin these guys are wound up right now they're just trash-talking trying to get a rise out of me as best they can stress levels I ain't just stressed out want to get done with this get back to my wife at 1:00 a.m. with hours left to go Danny's nerves are shot baby sing with me for what three four days now so words like and it would be home Texas Robo time you open your mouth from here on out tonight that light will come on and it will stay on so shut up and just sit down I'm inside of hearing your mouth if I hear your voice it comes back on here - boom he's being loud constantly I don't even hear the words he's saying it's just a dull nasty noise that I just can't stand and it's his mouth at the end of his rope Danny low heads toward the homestretch prison transports most dangerous well hey how they got a copy extradition agent Daniel OH drove through the night with four angry inmates pushing his buttons today on day five low speeds up Interstate five through Southern California he has 384 miles until Sacramento Stephen Montgomery the ringleader on the van has low in his crosshairs and he turns up the volume with every mile he has his sights set on me right now and he just wants me while uphill with Brooks in the follow vehicle Loeb races for the home stretch as inmates near their drop-off the reality of jail sets in that last stretch that's when stuff starts to get hairy that's really low so long Shane got that you owe me these individuals do not want to go back to where they're going nobody wants to go to jail they can freak out the nicest person the world can automatically be the most dangerous person there is just by seeing their Jail coming up the closer he gets to the big house the more Stephen Montgomery zeroes in on lo the biggest crybaby cop I ever city with nah he ain't a cop fast like a mosquito just buzzing in here you can't get rid of it that's exactly what it's like well uh yeah good without his little gun love my job but my job the bag cop story got told myself 30 days man I'll tell you too bad it's not fear being mentally drained and physically beat down from this trip and it definitely was had to do with them getting to me [ __ ] me I'll sue my big scam close with the one that dropped the ring and just made my life miserable and that's what they wanted they were successful and my fault I'm just done with them their attitudes suck everything about him just horrible halfway through day five lows stress level it's the boiling point he stops the van to defuse the situation you bet the whole way I didn't buy you those okay know what I'm going hey Jen Brooks takes over the wheel for the next stretch listen up we're here on business with your Andy head up north I win no more vote this has been one hell of a road trip from inmates besides of around low angel loans and a different vehicles now to separate himself from the scene of the bad cop we would definitely have to be on guard and we have five more hours left can we go what you the chaos and tension escalated as the van rolls towards Sacramento reality sets in then oh you've been on the road having a good old easy time talking and sitting in a comfy chair oh well now you're gonna go sit on concrete after dropping off one more inmate low returns to Big Daddy for the final leg not anybody can do this job no way I've seen people come in and spend an hour on the road and they have their own greyhound ticket back home they don't know we're back together again to finish this mission the last leg coming down from a 32mm 8-3 journey finally the road signs point to the finish line after a hundred and ten hours and 3,800 miles Big Daddy pulls into the county prison at Sacramento snow hump off the rear as the last three inmates shuffled inside the exhausting drive is officially over on the long drive to home base Big Daddy is at last quiet with all 32 prisoners delivered safely the agents have time to reflect is always been a crazy hole every day is a different in this business you can never wake up in the morning roll over kiss your loved one goodbye grab your lunch pail and go for a typical day in the office this was the longest mission I probably had it was very strenuous it was it was time-consuming mentally drained it was it was a long mission for agent Lowe this trip will become his last long drive for US extradition not long after this transport he moved on to a new profession but agent Brooks has many more missions to go in the business of prisoner transport there is always another dangerous drive

Channel: DrippersnDroppers

Views: 3,639,822

Keywords: Ken, greenwood, dangerous, drives, prisoner, transport

Id: DNHUfrVpWpU

Length: 43min 40sec (2620 seconds)

Published: Mon Nov 11 2013

Reddit Comments

[u/[deleted]]

"Is that understand?"

You can't fuck up your first speech in front of people like that.

[u/[deleted]]

With all the money spent in the US on jails, I'm surprised these budget outfits exist. Lowest bidder, I'm sure.

Also, why didn't they fly that prisoner to the correct city in the first place?

[u/iheartbaconsalt]

This is from 2009.

[u/smsmiddy]

Man, that prisoner who calls himself "California" is a petty, annoying asshole.

[u/kiplinght]

Disgusting. https://mobile.nytimes.com/2016/07/07/us/prisoner-transport-vans.html