still, the los angeles county jail system is enormous. it s run by more than 13,000 employees and is the largest sheriff s department in the world. it houses more than 20,000 inmates in eight different facilities, all waiting for trials, transfers, or release. let s go inside l.a. county jail s supermax facility that holds the city s most violent inmates. we ll show you how the jail detectives solve crimes committed behind bars and how violent inmates are learning to rehabilitate themselves. but first we travel 40 miles north of downtown los angeles as we continue our look behind the walls of l.a. county jail. nestled in the high desert mountains and a 40-mile bus ride north of downtown los angeles is the peter j. pitchess detention center. named after a former sheriff, the pitchess detention center is comprised of four jails set on 2,500 acres. south facility is an outdoor dormitory jail for low-to-medium security inmates.
jail, or osj, was formed. we try to identify who the gang members are that are in the system, and then we kind of try to make a guess at what level in the gang they are. if they re somebody who s very active, we ll try to isolate them from general population. sergeant roger ross is in charge of the osj unit that monitors all gang activity within the l.a. county jail system. los angeles county jail is unique in the fact that every gang in los angeles county ends up coming here. it doesn t matter if they re a black gang, an asian gang, a hispanic gang, or a white gang. if they re active in los angeles county and they get arrested, they end up coming to the los angeles county jail system. the osj unit must rely on communication to help prevent gang violence. solving crime is all about getting the information from somebody. it s not physical evidence. we ain t with nobody. it s just mainly a money thing.
it doesn t matter if they re a black gang, an asian gang, a hispanic gang, or a white gang. if they re active in los angeles county and they get arrested, they end up coming to the los angeles county jail system. the osj unit must rely on communication to help prevent gang violence. solving crime is all about getting the information from somebody. it s not physical evidence. who are you warring with right now? we ain t with nobody. it s just mainly a money thing. mainly we just doing our thing. everybody s doing their individual thing. you have had a history of feuding with who? blacks or hispanics? throughout the years over there. it s been a history of whoever stepped on our toes. knowing which gangs are fighting each other helps the osj unit decide who to remove from general population and where to search for weapons. we have found them with
still, the los angeles county jail system is enormous. it s run by more than 13,000 employees and is the largest sheriff s department in the world. it houses more than 20,000 inmates in eight different facilities, all waiting for trials, transfers, or release. let s go inside l.a. county jail s supermax facility that holds the city s most violent inmates. we ll show you how the jail detectives solve crimes committed behind bars and how violent inmates are learning to rehabilitate themselves. but first we travel 40 miles north of downtown los angeles as we continue our look behind the walls of l.a. county jail. nestled in the high desert mountains and a 40-mile bus ride north of downtown los angeles is the peter j. pitchess detention center. named after a former sheriff, the pitchess detention center is comprised of four jails set on 2,500 acres.
new york tops the list, but los angeles is one of the safest major cities in america. still, the los angeles county jail system is enormous. it s run by more than 13,000 employees and is the largest sheriff s department in the world. it houses more than 20,000 inmates in eight different facilities, all waiting for trials, transfers, or release. let s go inside l.a. county jail s supermax facility that holds the city s most violent inmates. we ll show you how the jail detectives solve crimes committed behind bars and how violent inmates are learning to rehabilitate themselves. but first we travel 40 miles north of downtown los angeles as we continue our look behind the walls of l.a. county jail. nestled in the high desert mountains and a 40-mile bus ride north of downtown los angeles is the peter j. pitchess detention center.