gang. right? i almost felt like it must have been what it was like 10,000 years ago when you have this almost tribalism. and you have to rely on your clan for protection. people would get stabbed because the mentality that we had out here and the way we train people within our own gang is the only time you should be fighting using your fist is to defend yourself. when we re attacking somebody, you re going to come at them with a knife, period. because, you know, it s better to do something right the first time than having to go back and do it a second time. this here is a sampling of the type of weapons that we do find here at pelican bay. some of these are made out of files, nails. here s a ballpoint pen with a sophisticated spear tip at the end of it. like when they don t have access to metal, they ll resort to plastic or wood. here s a good example of what
are you going to work out? yeah. then nearly two minutes pass, with nothing happening. our camera operator walked in between exercise cages waiting for the session to begin. finally our crew was informed it wouldn t start until they left. when our crew went back indoors, they learned that kern valley s dominant hispanic gang controlled the exercise session. because all their practices are shrouded in secrecy, they would not work out in front of our cameras. but they can t avoid prison surveillance cameras. notice right now you have what a call a cadence call. it s an exercise routine, there s a certain group of inmates that initiate it. and, therefore, the race have to follow as long as they show respect. everything in prison is about respect.
credibility with you, are you being honest with us? or are you trying to be a sleeper so you can get out there and stab one of these people who has disassociated themselves from these gangs. for a gang member, it s probably one of the toughest decisions they ll ever make in their life. it s easy to get into the gang and start doing stuff with the gang. but to step away from it the other gang members consider them a rat, or no good. it s a tough decision for them. if they have family members involved, that puts their family members in jeopardy. the big issues that i wrestled with was, am i going to get killed by dropping out? is my family going to get killed by dropping out? defected from the gangs. that was my big issue, i started realizing that, am i going to get killed by staying over there? what seems to be the biggest problem in your life right now? we met jason in an anger management class inside the transitional housing unit.
on the coastline of northern california. we re located just miles from the oregon border just in from the coast. so we re fairly remote. we re not surrounded by nothing. it s no accident that pelican bay is isolated hundreds of miles from the state s major cities. we fight an unending battle to keep the communication from our security housing unit inmates, particularly our gangsters, from getting back out to the streets and out of our 1,100 inmates, over 800 have been validated as gang members or associates. pelican bay is the toughest prison in the california prison system. it s where the worst of the worst go to. the first time we sent a lockup crew was weeks after they suffered their worst gang riot in history. and there was still tension in the air as the crew walked through the gates. the riot fought primarily between black and hispanic
to exit the cafeteria, an alarm sounds. signaling an assault or other disturbance near the chow hall. get out of the way, step back. step back. following protocol, inmates on the yard hit the ground and those in the cafeteria take their seats as officers sprint to the scene. it was a tense moment when everybody hit the deck. sure enough, they found a weapon and we were right in the middle of it. officers catch a gang member attempting to conceal a shank, a homemade slashing weapon. this time, violence was avoided. but nowhere is gang influence more prevalent than out on the rec yards of california s prisons. this is a turf war here. everybody s got their own turf and they re not going to let anybody else take it from them. the inmates segregate themselves out here. and the reason being that the gangs want it that way. so a man has no choice but to go with his own type of people. it s all run by gangs or at