[suspenseful music]
Miller, we got to go.
Lane.
Come on.
Where is that?
Oh, my god.
Oh, [bleep] Me and one of the other officers ran
over there realizing we had no idea
where the M the building was.
If you're late, another officer might get hurt.
We totally messed that one up.
[bleep]
[indistinct radio chatter]
I caught the aftermath of it.
I see three guys jumped the single individual.
I was a little disappointed.
Whatever the situation, of course, I want to jump in there
as quickly as possible.
Were there any weapons involved?
Yeah.
Bring a nurse.
We already had it handled by the time Chaz got there.
It just goes real quick.
I put Chaz against the wall, so we can watch what was going on.
It's very important you learn fast response.
105.
[indistinct radio chatter]
CHARLES MILLER: We'd locked it down to the investigation.
Come to find out, he was a California Sureño.
These guys knew it.
He was talking about it in the pod.
He didn't know there were Barrio Aztecas in there.
And they jumped him.
I'd rather have you sit down. I don't want you falling.
You understand?
You understand me?
Where does it hurt the most at?
In the back?
The Barrio Aztecas have a go.
With the Sureños out in California,
so it's a green light, which means when you see one,
you kill one.
So they were trying to kill him.
[suspenseful music]
CHAZ MILLER: It's pretty cool to watch my dad run the show just
knowing that he's been there, he's done it,
he's seen this stuff before.
Maybe I'll be up there someday delegating,
doing investigations and stuff like that.
First month, and I'm already seeing stabbings.
And I didn't expect to see it all happen so quickly.
Every time you see someone get lifted off a stretcher,
see them, like, severely hurt, it kind of just
keeps you realizing that this environment
is not a safe place to work.
[suspenseful music]
Hey.
CHAZ MILLER: What's up?
- How's it going? - Good.
Good.
CHARLES MILLER: Is it OK to be late to respond?
Sometimes it happens.
When the assistant's call comes, drop what you're doing.
Get there.
OK.
What happened?
I was just trying to figure out what M building
is, E building and stuff.
That's pretty rough.
OK.
What did you think about the fight?
Were you nervous?
Yeah.
When you're working in a prison, you're not safe.
You know how I tell you when you go to a fight,
make sure you check the hands?
Yeah.
CHARLES MILLER: It looked like he was just getting punched.
Come to find out, he had a little shank in his hand.
And he was puncturing him, yeah, stabbing him pretty good.
We tried to pull it up on camera.
We couldn't see it.
Yeah.
Oh, I'm glad he works here with me, you know?
But yeah, it's dangerous.
It can be.
And always in the back of your head.
You're always thinking, is he OK?
Every day is a learning experience.
And he's figured that out.
I think he's going to be a great officer.
Has he given you a problem?
No.
As far as my dad goes, like, his work ethic and the way
he carries himself, yeah, that's exactly how I want to be.
I do want to make him proud.
Cool, man.
If you need anything, let me know.
I will Be careful.
All right.
CHRISTIAN SANDOVAL: Junior year in high school,
my buddy, my rodeo partner made this for me.
I keep it on me every day.
One day, this cross is going to be something that saves me.
Yes, sir.
10-4.
[dramatic music]
Hey, Sergeant Sutton.
Hey, can you go up front?
We've got guys messing around up front.
Master control, send the A team responders.
1032. 1032.
Housing unit four.
[arguing]
So master control, there's a weapon in one of the 15 tents.
Sergeant Sutton, he's got his chemicals ready to deploy.
[dramatic music]
Master control, be advised we have a 15.
And he's bleeding.
Negative, sir.
I'm getting up on the hatch now.
Put the weapon down.
[arguing]
Valencia, I swear, I'll shoot you if you don't--
OFFICER: Hey, back up now, Valencia.
Back up.
CHRISTIAN SANDOVAL: Valencia, get against the fence.
OFFICER: Is he putting the weapon down?
Put it down.
[arguing]
Put the [bleep] weapon down.
[dramatic music]
If he [bleep] shoots, [bleep].
[arguing]
Get these inmates out of there.
Get them out of there.
[suspenseful music]
OFFICER: Let's go.
[indistinct radio chatter]
CHRISTIAN SANDOVAL: It's crazy-- it's crazy how
quick things can change here.
You know, one second, we think these guys are horse playing.
The next, a guy is stabbed.
A lot of adrenaline, but making sure-- making sure my brothers
are out there OK.
I could have used force with this less than lethal,
you know, when the inmate wasn't listening to the directive
to push the weapon away.
But I had officers behind that inmate.
I wasn't going to take the risk of injuring
one of my fellow officers.
[dramatic music]
Hey.
your sarge all right?
We wait.
Want to help me get this guy up here?
[muffled speech]
Hey, make sure you guys pat them all down.
OFFICER: Over here at level six, we do have some very
high ranking members, actually.
They're the guys running the show.
Killings, drug deals, you name it,
it does not get done without their blessing.
[suspenseful music]
Syndicato Nuevo Mexico, the gang's power
is fueled by drugs.
In order to stop that surge of drugs into our prisons,
we need to shake them down to make sure
that that threat's mitigated.
Go there and lift your foot, bro.
ANDREW CORDOVA: You just got to be on your toes
and check everything.
All right, Antonio, you're going to go to the right.
All right? INMATE: All right.
I've came a long way.
I now know that I set my own limits,
and I truly believe that.
One of my most favorite things about this job
is doing the shakedowns and finding stuff.
It lets me let the inmates know, like, hey, I'm watching you.
I'm on my toes.
You can hide stuff wherever.
I'm going to find it.
I know there's no such thing as a perfect officer, you know?
I want to be pretty damn close.
Clear.
[muffled yelling]
[dramatic music]
CHRIS CUPIT: STIU is the investigations unit within
the Department of Corrections.
We investigate gangs inside of prison
as well as trying to find drugs in the facility.
An SNM is very dangerous well, well, well
organized hard to break gang.
In the state of New Mexico, we have a war on our hands.
Our job's just to stay on them and know exactly what's going
on with not only the group, but the individuals
within that group.
Cordova.
Yeah.
OFFICER: What's that?
My dad, he was STIU captain when he worked here.
And that's what I want to do when the time comes,
climbing up in the ranks.
I think Mabel's probably selling meds
or trying to get high off meds.
I feel like it made me look like I didn't know how to do my job.
Here we go, check this room.
And then someone goes in there 10 seconds later
and finds something.
You found what was in there?
Some of these SNM members put a hit
out on staff members in the Department of Corrections.
And, like, today, I would have left that room, if STIU
wouldn't have checked it, that guy
still would have had the nail clipper and the razor in there.
A razor could be altered as a slashing device.
Nail clippers can actually cut steel.
You could cut out a piece of metal out of one
of the rec cages outside.
And he could have brought it in to make a shank
or a sharpened instrument.
Yeah.
I've seen that [bleep].
SNM members, they're very dangerous.
If I make mistakes like this, it could ultimately get myself
or someone else killed.
OK.