IBO, Brian R. Lundin [the ebook reader .txt] 📗

“Commissioner Deon this is Chris and his cameraman William from CNN,” Ronald said
Deon shook Chris hand with a bear like grip, hurting him.
“Welcome, he said with a broad smile thankfully releasing Chris hand.
“Thank you for letting us come,” Chris said.
“Have a seat,” he told Chris, directing him to a black letter chair opposite his desk.
William panned the room with his camera, recording the many Native American artifacts and drawing hanging on the walls.
“Did Ronald give you a little background on our camp,” he asked Chris.
“Yes he did and it was very informative, we also visited Blood House, the dining room and the gym. Like I told Ronald this is quite different from the Re-Education Camp we did a story on.”
“That was a good show; I’m a big fan of yours and your News show.”
“Thank you,” Chris responded.
“Yes there is a big difference, the other camp is mainly concerned with education program for the young kids who were not really gang members, and they just got caught up in the law. Here these people are all known gang members and many of them have served time. Our mission is not so much rehabilitation but containment, we have a strong work component which we hope will keep them so worn out they do not have the energy to get into trouble. It works most of the time although there are some exceptions. Their day starts at 5:00 am, when they are awaken and breakfast is at 6:00 am.
After breakfast, they go to their assignments. Some are assigned to the Kitchen Detail: they mop the floors, clean the pots and pans and assist the cooks, other are assigned to the Maintenance Detail, their job is to keep the grounds clean, shovel snow, cut the grass, whatever. Some are assigned to the pickin’ detail.”
“We saw some of them guys working as we came in,” Chris said
“They have a half-hour lunch and their workday’s ends at 5:30 pm. Dinner is at 6:00 pm. They have free time until 8:30 pm., lights out at 9:00 pm., so we keep them pretty busy.”
“I noticed that most of your officers are armed except the headmasters, who work in the houses.”
“Well, that’s the way it is in most correctional institutions, an armed guard brings a weapon into the situation.”
“Ronald told me about the officer who was killed, maybe if he had had a weapon it might have saved his life.”
“I doubt it, if someone wants to get you, they will. If the officer had had a weapon, the offender would just wait until he caught him off guard and now he would have a weapon, a weapon may have helped but I doubt it. We have Ready Response Teams that can get to any house or area within one minute. All of the officer here have wrist radios and can call for assistance when needed.
The really bad guys are housed in our Control Unit” and are kept in solitary confinement in small six by eight feet cells between twenty two and twenty three hours a day, they eat and exercise by themselves, they have no privileges, no television, no mail, no windows and no visitors. They are held in total isolation to prevent them from working together. Many of these young men are drug addicts and they can be very dangerous not only to others but also to themselves. I have seen them beat their heads against the bars, try to hang themselves and do all kind of crazy shit, withdrawal is a bitch. By it being considered an administrative measure as opposed to a punitive one and there is no due process. They can stay in their for as long as I like and I don’t have to give any reason.”
“What would a student have to do to be sent there?”
“That extreme measure is generally used for a student who has assaulted an officer or another student refused to follow the rules or has tried to escape. We currently have twenty students in the Control Unit; one guy attacked and seriously injured his headmaster and the other guy who worked in the kitchen raped one of the female cooks, both of them have been formally charged and they will be there until they can be taken to a prison to await their trial. Some of these young people have a hard time adjusting to rules and regulations and become very rebellious. Some are in because they are addicts and like I said withdrawal can be a bitch. Therefore, we keep them here for their own safety. Like I said we are not in the rehabilitation business we are in the containment business.”
“What do they do all day?” Chris asked.
“During the long hours they are locked down most of them read. Surprisingly many of the young people are well read and discipline. Some of them are required by the gang leaders to study philosophy, military strategy and management books. There are a few positives in gang membership. The gang emphasizes respect for each other, trust and discipline. The problem is that their energies are in the wrong direction,”
“While doing research on your camp I read about a Debriefing Program you have here, what is that?”
“The Debriefing Program is modeled after a similar program they have in Pelican Bay Supermax Prison.
Only gang members that are in our Control Unit is eligible for the program. As noted, the Control Unit is not a nice place to be and a person could be in there for the duration of his time here, maybe ten years. To get out of the unit the inmate has to prove to me that he’s ready to leave the gang by divulging everything he knows about the gang and even agree to testify against other gang members.”
“In other words if he do not want to spend his time in an isolated small cell he has to become a snitch,” Chris said.
“That’s right. If he decides to enter the program and he decides he wants out of the gang he sit down with DEA, FBI and other law enforcement officials for a three hour interview during which time we are able to find out what’s going on in the camps and on the streets. Inmates who buy into the program are eventually transferred to a Re-Education camp where the conditions are a lot better. Many of the inmates who refuse to participate in the program say that we are forcing the gang members to become informants and they call them cowards and traitors and they are always at the top of the gang’s hit list.
Of course, the program has its critics, which say that the program exact too high of a price for an inmate to get out of the Control Unit. They argue that it needlessly put the inmate in harm’s way by saying the only way out is by snitching on your friends who has a history of violence. It is a sure way to make a lot of enemies and they say that program does not provide them with the protection or the resources they need after they get out. They advocate rehabilitation programs for the inmates; other wants the Unit to be behavioral-based that would send men to the Unit for specific infractions rather than their gang status. They advocate self-improvement classes and reduced time spent in the Unit, but I disagree. We all have responsibilities as citizens, we expect our citizens to cooperate with law enforcement and lead decent law-abiding lives what is so wrong from expecting that from inmates who has knowledge of rapes, murders, extortions even terrorist activities.
“Could I possible interview one of the inmates who have agreed to the program, in private?”
“Yes that can be arranged, but for security no pictures and no names, agreed?”
In a half hour, a young Hispanic was led into Commissioner Deon office and was lead into a conference room off the office. Commissioner Deon introduced the young man as Jesus and left, but posted an armed officer outside the door. Jesus was thirty-one years, tall, fat and Latino.
“Jesus I want to interview you for a story I’m doing on the camps. I will not use your real name or show your face, ok?”
Jesus agreed and Chris started the interview.
“Where are you from?”
“Salinas, California.”
“What gang were you with?”
“The Nuestra Familia, we called it the NF.”
“Have you ever been arrested?”
“Yeah, I been locked up, lots of time, mainly on bullshit.”
“How long have to been in the Control Unit?”
“Bout a two year.”
“What did you do to be sent to the Control Unit?”
“Well there was this white southern muthafuckin’ guard who didn’t like blacks or Latinos and he was always fuckin’ with us who worked on the pickin’ gang. Working on that gang is the worst job in this place; it’s demeaning, ass-breakin’ work. Them white muthafuckers on them big-ass horses would knock you down and just fuck with you for no reason. Well, this day it was cold as hell and they had my crew loading these heavy ass seed bags on this truck. I was in a fucked up mood, my girl had wrote and told me she had gotten pregnant and was moving back to Mexico. I was fucked up, really feeling sorry for myself. See, in here all you have are memories of the people you love and when you lose that it’s really fucked up. Well on this day, this ass-hole guard told me to load the bags of seed. I bent down and grabbed a bag but it was too heavy. When I called one of the other guys to help me, this ass-hole guard pulled his horse right beside me nearly knocking me down. He jumped off the horse and told me to load the goddamn bags. I told him that they were too heavy for one person and I needed help. He told me there ain’t no help and he ordered me again to load the bags. I guess all of my anger and frustration came out because I told him to kiss my ass.
Everything got real quiet all the other crewmembers stopped workin’ and waited to see what was going to happen. The ass-hole guard who was a little muthafucka moved closer, his blue eyes filled with hate and ordered me again to load the bags. I told him I wasn’t no muthafuckin’ slave and I aren’t doing it. He raised his rifle to hit me and I grabbed it and took it from him. I was tempted to bust a cap in his white ass, but luckily, I didn’t, but I popped him in his mouth with the butt. Next thing I knew I was surrounded by them white muthafuckers pointing guns and rifles at me, I dropped the rifle and that was that, I’ve been here every since.
“Why did you agree to join the Debriefing Program, knowing the dangers and how you would be viewed by the other gang members?”
“I wanted to see the sky. There are no windows in the Unit, having a window are a privilege and in the Unit, there are