term of internally discussions? well, of course, first and foremost, jason is our resident expert on escapes. but it s probably trying to figure out what could we have done to prevent it. i mean that s always the number one issue. what could we have done to prevent it. is there something that we need to be doing better or look at or we need to fix, whatever the problem is. jason, what s the penalty if you escape and get caught? in our state, it will only get you another year. one to five. why not give it a shot? i can t disagree. one to five years and depends on if they commit any additional crime while they re out. how many attempts are there successful versus unsuccessful? i think the successful ones are minute in comparison to those who plan or attempt. because people like valerie and her intelligence network and informants, you know, we learn about these things far in advance of an attempt. john webster, has contraband
good evening. i m sitting in for larry who is on vacation. we welcome jerry lester, director of internal affairs for the tennessee department of corrections, jason woodall, special agent in charge, internal affairs for the tennessee department of corrections, sergeant valerie hampton, institutional investigator known for her ability to find drugs and other contraband. and john fisher, special agent internal affairs for the tennessee department of corrections. all four star in the new a & e documentary series the squad: prison police. and when it comes to investigating crimes, police have it tough enough on the outside. on the inside, it s a whole other story. watch jason and john at work. this is a clip from the squad. jason, he s my boss. he s hard on me. for the record, he s about six pounds more than i am. the relationship i have with john fisher is beyond just a professional one. we re also friends. we keep each other straight. i give him a hard time every chance i
good evening. i m sitting in for larry who is on vacation. we welcome jerry lester, director of internal affairs for the tennessee department of corrections, jason woodall, special agent in charge, internal affairs for the tennessee department of corrections, sergeant valerie hampton, ings constituti hampton, institutional investigator known for her ability to find drugs and other contraband. and john fisher, special agent internal affairs for the tennessee department of corrections. all four star in the new a & e documentary series the squad: prison police. and when it comes to investigating crimes, police have it tough enough on the outside. on the inside, it s a whole other story. watch jason and john at work. this is a clip from the squad. jason, he s my boss. he s hard on me. for the record, he s about six pounds more than i am. the relationship i have with john fisher is beyond just a professional one. we re also friends. we keep each other straight. i give him a
throughout the prison system in the state of tennessee. we have 12 prisons and we have three privately owned facilities that we go to as well. so your job is to go inside and take care of the crimes that happen inside the prison? correct. how does this differ, jason, the work you would do inside a prison than it might if you were a police officer, say, on the outside investigating a crime? it has its pros and cons. one, when a crime is committed, it s at a facility. you know where your subject is. you don t have to look in the neighboring town or worry about him being in the next state. you know they re there somewhere. the problem, though, that we face that law enforcement on the street doesn t necessarily have to is cooperating witnesses. you know, you re relying on convicted felons to come forward and do the right thing and tell the truth about what happened. that s not always easy. i m guessing everybody has different motives for why they may tell you the truth or lie?
advice. jason, what s the difference in relationships? when you re in there, is it important that you are different from the guards, that you can develop your own rapport? absolutely. if we re there to investigate a crime, you know, we re the, as the inmates will say, we re the police. they know that we can affect them outside the prison, beyond the administrative elements. we can affect their freedom. you know, they re already incarcerated. but they may look at more time, additional sentences, those type things. so they know that. we don t have to tell them. they know where we re coming from. but bottom line is we want to obtain the truth. and oftentimes, you know, there is always two sides to every story. and so we re there to allow these people to tell their side, too. jerry, how often or how common is it for a prisoner to not talk simply because i can t the crime i m going to get if i talk to you guys is worse than the extra time you ll give to me?