Behind Bars: NECC Missouri, USA | World’s Toughest Prisons | Free Documentary

[Music] how you doing a different world with its own rules somebody have a bad day and you get killed right off the bat Zero [Music] Tolerance if you notice he's white on black we don't trip out there and here we family and here we Brothers all this behind bars gangs [Music] violence drugs [Music] harassment a daily survival of the fittest [Music] [Applause] in the toughest prisons in the world St Louis in the US state of Missouri located on the banks of the Mississippi River almost 3 million people live in the metropolitan region in downtown St

Louis wealth and poverty Collide there are massive drug problems addiction to fanil in particular is making more and more more people homeless and criminal St Louis Missouri is the city with the highest murder rate in the entire United States anyone who gets into trouble with the law quickly ends up here at the Northeast Correctional Center in Bowling Green or NECC for [Music] short the level two prison is surrounded by a deadly electric fence it is embedded in a deterrent wall of barbed wire [Music] the justice system in Missouri is traditionally conservative people are often locked

away for [Music] decades 1,550 prisoners are incarcerated here at night two men sleep in a cramped cell during the day 16 men share this shower behind bars at the Northeast Correctional Center in Missouri it is early morning while most of the prisoners are still in their cells a prisoner transporter rolls through the security gate statistically speaking many prisoners often use such transportation to try to escape but here an escape is virtually impossible three prisoners on this bus are specially guarded with with handcuffs leg shackles and chains they only take a few steps before the next

security gate opens for them the men have been on the road for 12 hours they are scared and tired the biggest security risk they pose is weapons or drugs on or in their bodies in its defense the NECC prison has the best body scanner in the world this americanmade scanner can spot both metallic and non-metallic objects weapons drugs solid or liquid outside or inside the body Security check successful a normal day behind the deadly electric fence here on the so-called b side of the prison the first roll call of the day takes place every morning

at 6:00 after that the inmates have breakfast go through the their routines and carry out their respective tasks what's up bro you doing all right I see you got your hat on come on in here stand out come on in here with me yeah Cuba did you see we got the crisy cream donuts over here [Applause] now who the best Wing in the camp here you go all right let's go to the Spade table who whooping who whooping butt or what we say ass what's the score bam L to a lot to a little about

to lose okay can't can't get no set now can't get no set Carlos Ashcraft has been in prison since 2019 he takes care of all the little things all the everyday needs of his fellow prisoners got learn the word of God we can't live without it everybody doing all right what y'all what y'all want to eat tonight your choice Pizza you be good with make pizza what's up [Laughter] Matt mainus is in the building Manus is in the building but he fixed everything technically skilled occupants are repairing a faulty heating system the fact that they

are allowed to use screwdrivers is a sign of trust such potential stabbing weapons would be Unthinkable in other prisons see they got they got to piece they got to piece our stuff together with used parts all used points I grew up in a good stable home a little dysfunctional you know a lot of addictions you know I grew up at the north side of St Louis inner city inner youth with a lot of crime was a lot of drugs but you know we we had togetherness we had family I saw a lot of killings and

a lot of assaults a lot of of rapes that's how I became strong in what I [Applause] [Music] [Applause] do like Wentzville Missouri almost exactly halfway between St Louis and the prison Ashley Brooks lives here with her husband James and their three children we're just getting the kids fed so they can get ready to go up to the lake with their Grandma and Grandpa to go ride the go-kart and do some fishing cuz we're on spring break aren't we Ashley works at the NECC prison James is a firefighter um typically I have an 8 hour

day but that's if everything goes right so um he always asks me before I leave you know what's this what's today look like and I always say I plan to be home by 5:15 but that's not always the case you know um we're kind of in the business of dealing with humans and you can't predict human behavior so if something goes wrong um we're kind of the ones that have to stay until it's fixed in both of our jobs we always kind of remind each other to stay vigilant you know always have situational awareness is

something we always talk about always be ready for the unexpected because you never know you know when something could go bad all right C smoi can I have a smoochi no stinker hey Addie I'm leaving Ashley Brooks is on her way to work at the Northeast Correctional Center I originally wanted to go into juvenile probation and that is actually where my career started and I quickly learned juveniles weren't for me so my next step was coming here as a correctional officer and then I promoted to a case manager um I was in that role for

a couple years it was a promotion to a functional unit manager so kind of that person that oversees the entire housing unit staff and offenders and then about 8 months ago is when I promoted to my current role uh as Deputy Warden and that is something that when I started eight years ago with corrections if you asked me if I would be in this role today I would not at all believe you every day begins with a meticulous Security check even for the deputy prison Warden good morning how are you today how are you doing

good little cold over 100 employees and guests come and go here every day one second one second and anyone could be compromised anyone could be smuggling in drugs watch other than what's in your pocket and on your on your wrist you're clear thank you very much have a good day as Deputy Warden she mainly has a desk job thank you thank you nevertheless Ashley Brooks generally spends a lot of time at the prison the northeastern Correctional Center or NECC consists of two areas the a side is for inmates with good behavior and the bside there

are five houses on both sides each with four wings the prison is surrounded by a deadly electric fence that encompasses the entire site the control center has an overview of the entire system this is where radio communication and the Locking systems come together centrally the central building houses the medical facilities kitchens dining rooms and workshops outside the prison grounds is the hall for the blood hounds Ashley Brooks is on the move on the asite we're heading to the recreation building we have what we call CT testing going on today that is where um members who

would like to be a part of our Emergency Response Team um are able to come and test to see if they meet the physical standards that we require for them to be a part of that team the sir team is the rapid response Force Ashley Brooks was there herself for years during her time as a correctional officer you getting up there today there you go go go go go go go go come on there you go you have to get a certain score and so there's different male and female requirements and there's different age brackets

with each one so you have to at least score a two in every single category and your overall score has to at least equal 15 points come on you got three more at least there you go there you go come come on two two more two more two more um majority of it's mental strength um everybody in here is physically in shape enough to um do this test um and you know that because when there's a situation on the yard these people are the first ones there that are responding these are the people that are

there to help you get people restrained or help there to break up fights so it's more mental than anything come on Lindsay come on hey don't stop come on there it is come on come on come on come on back in 20 2017 we had an officer who um was severely assaulted here and we went into an Institutional lockdown and certain teams from all over uh different institutions came in to help us regain um organ you know organization and get all the offenders locked down come on guys then there's the final endurance run they have

to do roughly a little over a half mile in 6 minutes which isn't bad it's just hard because you run around this gym and so you just go in circles you know you do about 17 laps and that that's harder for me mentally than running from point A to point B you know running 17 times around something the team evidently overextended itself and is totally exhausted then an alarm [Applause] sounds who else is it you spraying what happened okay [Applause] okay the entire prison is sealed off on the bide Carlos Ashcraft and his fellow inmates

are immediately taken to their cells we got to go lock down God [Applause] where was he at walking around this way God damn how did I already get in trouble and he go for3 as soon as we got around here walk behind godamn um it was a what's called a 105 which is an officer needs assistance um and so that's why everyone responded it was uh right here on aard and I'm not sure the details yet I called the um the warden cuz he had called me on the radio cuz he um saw that I

was out there so he wanted to see what's going on it's kind of in your blood when a 105's called and you're you're available to respond you respond you can't you can't help that you know um here's our major now coming down to check on things what we just saw here was people who completely exerted themselves testing for the test um they were on the ground trying to catch their breath and everything and uh an emergency occurred out on the yard and those same individuals who just gave all they had on the on the court

here got up ran out there and responded and took care of that situ ation so to me you know that shows their mental strength if the whole prison is an organism then the control center is the brain from here you have an overview of almost everything this is also where communication is centrally controlled the staff here have to remain cool especially when something goes crazy outside what happened with the 105 this morning uh officer called for assistance and uh we send the assistance to help them out good good good um did get it rectified pretty

quickly pretty quickly got it 10 six 10 under control good anybody hurt good good this is the the compound that runs everything um they control every radio call we have they are the ones that are listening for there's an emergency situation going on like a man down button a 105 1049 they're relaying all that information to us so they're they're the nucleus of the cell here um they control all the movements they release all the movements um and as you can see they have a pretty good um sight line of most of the the yard

of the institution there are also nearly 400 cameras here spread all over the prison they make everything and everyone highly visible ible another important safety feature the deadly electric fence that surrounds the entire facility its status is also closely monitored by the employees in the control center the fence is definitely psychological for a lot of um I would say our our safety precautions here for us that's an extra piece of Mind knowing we have that fence protecting the communities on the a side is the Dynamo house perfectly visible from up here the prison of the

future a wing without security staff all the residents have been behaving in an exemplary manner for years my name is Michael Brian Whitfield I'm from St Louis Missouri grew up in South part of St Louis down by the Bush Stadium I'm 60 years old as uh March the 20th and my belief man you know it's really just trying to make sure things are done correctly now at this point in my life you know I I I got to have a a belief system that what I do now is is about not serving me but just

trying to be gentle and kind to others now uh but I do believe that you know times are going to change and things are going to get better this is a revolution for the conservative state of Missouri Michael Whitfield has his own key to the prison gate such degrees of freedom only exist for the Dynamo Community I've been walking this way here for over 20 years you know I've been uh used to work Recreation right here at aside Rec uh then after leaving that job I went to the warehouse for the for nine years which

I've been there as of the present day you know so walking this walk uh through all different climates of weather you know it's it's a good long walk but if I had to close my eyes and do it man I I can get there just take a little while you know but I'm sure we can accomplish you know come to Missouri if you're looking for a change in the weather you know from one hour to the next you sure to find it you know right here in Old good old Missouri Michael walks from the aide

to the B area then enters the main building from the side Michael was convicted a manslaughter and several robberies in 1993 all right good morning I'm here I'm going to take him to the return freezer show them how I pick up the food that was left from last night okay uh put it back on the Shelf then wait for my orders to pull the meal so just to let you know where in the building okay all right appreciate it these are meals that they cooked yesterday that they didn't use so it have to be returned

to stock every morning when I come in to work uh first thing I do is go to the freezer see what was left behind from yesterday's meal put them on the cart and replace them on the Shelf it's a tough job for a 60-year-old my physical strength is important to me for the job that I take on every day I'm always always lifting stuff picking up items moving them from one place to the other uh my mental strength I need that to focus on this when I'm feeling like I might not have it there anymore

you know which is very important to me physically and mentally you know it helps me stay stable you know I'm able to stay on those same wavelength each day most of the prisoners go to lunch every day at 11:45 Michael Whitfield works in the main building and therefore has a short commute until recently the prisoners prepared the food themselves now it is handled by a large American catering [Music] company well this I can say is not one of the worst meals you know it ain't bad I can it's manageable and uh real tasty with some

salt and pepper you know the vegetables are good which was always needed this is rice everybody loves a little rice you know I'm not too much into the cookies but you know just the main course is fine with me the most important thing about lunch is not the quality but the ritual getting through each new day in the early afternoon the be site is bustling with activity again Carlos Ashcraft is on his way through all four wings to see who needs what the half torn shower curtain is about to be replaced this shower is shared

by 16 men the shower has two temperatures cold or ice cold depending on the season there is no way to regulate it anyway Carlos Ashcraft was convicted of sodomy with miners this is my sale I have one of the more cleaner sales because I'm an OCD fanatic I like to make it feel more homey stuff like hanging my clothes up this my silly Mason M say what's up what's up y'all good silly you know if you notice he's white I'm black we don't trip off that and here we family and here we Brothers this is

our water bed in the California King yes this is where all my Gucci and Versace hangs this is where my chemicals for my facials and everything this is for my food you have your food your seasonings your sodas right now you have to Picture This combined space everybody's not equipped to deal with that but you learn over time this is my temporary housing unit that so I'm going to make the best of we make the best of it you know and we learn each other we learn each other's cultures it's not just bad I learned

things I never knew with ccasian people he learned things he never knew with African-American people so it has this Catch 22 with pros and his cons of being in prison you can either come in one way leave out one way if you want to if you take time to like I said I've been here since 2020 2019 been locked locked up but I've learned a lot about myself in those little years that I would have never learned on the street the camaraderie and the Brotherhood for being together that that that that goes on what he

was talking about with the schooling you know people get better at Athletics people get stronger mentally with their with their religion and things like this so it's beautiful it really is whenever it can be cohesive and everybody can come together it's beautiful really racism is of course also a problem behind bars even among prisoners I've never been around Caucasian people like in prison so I'm learning that about me but guess what I don't see color even though it is what it is transparently he's Mexican my wife I've never been around people of the sort doesn't

matter what RoR is you know he's going to pull you up you know and help you you know any way he can you know like feeding you giving you advice and get you out of trouble don't do this do this you know go this way go this way you know the state of Missouri is the first US state to commit to the re-entry program this encompasses the reintegration of long-term inmates into society and involves training preparation but also reparation Mike Campbell was convicted of manslaughter in 1983 his first hearing on possible parole is scheduled for

next year this is what they refer to as the restorative justice workshop and the purpose of the shop is to actively support the local community by making projects that they could auction we support churches schools any Civic organization and this shop itself started in 99 and I've been with this shop since uh 2000 I've been doing this for 24 years in this shop and it's a good purpose it's not just wasting time you know and it's I've been in prison for 42 years and you know at after a time you know it's just you have

to have purpose you have to have something you can do that makes an impact and what we do in this shop makes a serious impact on the [Music] community Mike Campbell and Steven Johnson are both members of the Dynamo program both men have been convicted of felonies and have been behind bars for decades we do the wood here we put the wood together in a prison whenever you're walking around somewhere somebody have a bad day and you get killed right off the bat you now you're in a place where we talk right somebody comes up

and they'll say hey I'm having a bad day can you talk to me for a minute you it's more open more honest and it's kind of nice it's really nice Steven Johnson is here for life for him there is no Prospect of eventual release we get to work with a lot of places uh that could really use help out there and being an inmate a convicted killer you know you don't get those chances you know to give back to society but in here we do through the Dynamo and through projects like with Mike and me

we get to do this work and the simplest little thing will create a revenue you know for battered women uh victims everywhere and like we said we all did bad things you I can't change what I did I can change the person that did it and give back so that's what I do [Music] [Music] it's now afternoon and Michael Whitfield is making his way back to the Dynamo Wing Dynamo is a revolution in the American justice system especially in conservative Missouri anyone here has been in prison for at least 15 years and has done nothing

wrong while serving their time here inmates are called residents they take responsibility for maintaining and caring for these two Wings the idea comes from Norway the aim is to prepare people for reintegration into society the most important feature individual cells the inmates repay the trust no fights no drugs no overdoses no crimes the new inmates are now being checked through the prison security access point just below the control center three newcomers are among the first external members of the Dynamo [Music] program well coming from where they come from uh most likely they're very anxious you

know to get here and you know to get settled in and get the comfort of what they have here compared to what they had there hey good day man my name is Mike man I'm a dyn community experience chairperson okay we'd love to have you man and we welcome you in with open arms man all right I appreciate it yes sir thank so we're going to go get you guys a stuff if you guys are ready we going to go get your stuff Michael Whitfield and his colleagues have taken the extra time to pick up

the men personally then it's over to the aside it's bound to be a bit of a culture shock there is a particularly successful special unit at the Northeast Correctional Center that lives and works outside the fence the blood hounds for Warden clay Stanton they are an important pillar in securing the prison so this is our mobile command center for the dog team um we can set up and respond to any event and spin multiple hours out there our main main goal is to help out in the community with lost children lost elderly people we've helped

out a a lot in the community they're walking off and they'll go to oh he might go a mile today little longer uh and he'll actually hide um once he he's prepared and everything um then we'll sent the dog up um that's the um members that laid the tracks jacket there um we'll sent the dog with that the dog will go up and actually smell that and then they'll they'll send the dog off so this is a GPS tracking monitor that we um put on the dog um we were able to track the dog and

the Handler wherever they go back at the trailer um that assists that where if they get lost or we're watching topographical map we can tell where they go tell them what the terrain's like and everything [Music] since its opening in 1998 not one single inmate has escaped the prison nevertheless the dog Squad must always be prepared for [Music] anything 12 hours every week that we spend with a dog to make sure they're on top of their gang um even if the weather's bad and stuff we'll get them out and still exercise them and stuff and

we track them in all kinds of weather um you know summer even it's 100 deges out and everything that conditions the dogs and everything cuz there's no time out when you're searching for someone The Blood Hound Gang is the reigning state champion in Missouri the precious dogs don't live in a small small shed they have an entire Hall to romp around in as well as an outdoor enclosure the residents of the Dynamo program open the gates for their new members on the aside okay gra Quenton Galan has been in prison for 10 years for a

sexual offense in involving miners his sentence is life imprisonment that's why this is a massive [Music] change how you doing somewhere I'm probably around I've been a few places what's your name 24 years my name is H everybody just called me okay good to meet Brodrick Hawkins has been in prison since 1997 he is serving a life sentence for murder since his incarceration he has spent every single night with at least one other cellmate that is now history I have to worry about the C just eat this you and your C could be real good

and cool and everything but being in the C with another man is just you know things just just it's nothing you can do about it but it's just this is Beau it's wonderful Michael Whitfield takes time to talk to the new guy he's never experienced a wing without an officer before you know only so [Music] many you you made it cuz I couldn't do it without made it I'm tell you because when I got here you know when I got off the bus I was I was excited about I was kind of nervous too because

I'm going my you know life chapter you know I'm going to change my whole life everything now is going to become different now I got to come and I got to try to do something now this going to be a whole new experience for me this something I never experienced before being in prison so it was it was definitely different for me to to be in that level of getting off that bus and coming into this Quenton galan's earliest possible parole hearing is in November 2042 [Music] it was kind of scary at first um it

it was exciting but scary the good part about it was I knew it was going to it's the first night of my new beginning on my life my new first Chapel I couldn't sleep I was walking around for a minute and not realizing that when I go to the door I could go out the door in the Dynamo program on the aside the three men slowly arrive in a completely new world on the bside deputy Warren Ashley Brooks and Lieutenant Jacob wegan are on their way to conduct a cell search they have received a tip

hey cell searchat search Lieutenant wegan first examines the inmate while Ashley Brooks keeps a watchful eye on everything else if the man has something to hide that's always the most critical moment the two then examine the cell very thoroughly even though they carry out daily checks it must never become routine pieces of paper like this are pretty important because they um for example that says I need your cash app um give it to Lopez cash app is how they exchange money on the outsides here um typically cash app is used for um illegal purchases of

Narcotics that are going on but it could be for like canteen items and stuff there are two types of cell searches random ones and cell searches based on a tip for example from fellow inmates random self searches are routine but Ashley Brooks and her colleagues still have to be constantly on their guard every powder every liquid that comes out of somewhere can be toxic normally what you do is you go ahead and you pop off the top of it and you take it over the toilet or the sink and put a little bit in it

and if it's heavy when it comes out then there's lighter there's something hidden inside there Shanks whatever the case may be toothpaste things um like here I found uh guitar strings that were stolen from up there yeah that was wrapped inside there yeah I found Shanks I found uh 1.7 gram of cocaine one time um the little pills that they take from medical that they're supposed to be taking they take back with them um homemade alcohol you typically stay with the same person throughout those types of searches and you kind of just work out a

system um like him and I we've searched together numerous times so I know that he likes to search the Foot Lockers why I search the bunks first because then we can put things on the bunks once the bunks are searched so you just kind of work that system out you can come on over um I'm just taking some trash out okay um all I need you guys to do though is you got to get those lines down in there you can't have all that hanging up okay just clean that up for us and all good

okay we weren't we weren't too rough on you I promise thank you so searches are annoying for the prisoners but have also become routine for them they're pretty cordial they know that that's an expectation that their cell can be searched anytime sometimes they can get a little aggressive and aren't really um on board or you can usually tell if there's something in there because they keep trying to pass the window and look in there while you're searching um so that's usually pretty a good indication that there's something in there if they keep watching you today

the team found nothing except that mysterious note two houses down also on the bide the occupants share the lawn with young dogs and not just any dogs the program is called puppies for parole inmates take over the responsibility for dogs from animal shelters they care for them train them and hope that they will then be adopted for me I have to stay on routine and um I love that my C actually helped me stay accountable and the rest of dog program that's how we do we help each other stay accountable but um to be able

to to be able to stay on schedule feed every day train every day you know make sure that they're getting their their exact amount of uh actual exercise or even more than that in depth uh it's very [Music] important prisoners even share their double cells with the dogs we actually have to move around and make extra adjustments for these puppies to be in the cell with us along with us like if you go to other cells that have like two uh one or two um dogs you will see that they have actually removed their lockers

or they removed uh the big tall stand up Locker just to make sure we have extra room for the puppies to be in here for the time that they're going to need to be in here one of the storage cases that we have for the dog so like you would see like supplies like um wipes uh things like that uh brushes toys and having puppies actually makes that a lot better um even dealing with things like this so sometimes I might be right here and I might have like a lily come sit beside me or

some and while I watch TV or you know just the normal things the prisoners are out in the afternoon also on the bite Carlos Ashcraft enjoys the space outside his own cell wi loyalty and integrity and I will call myself a man of Valor because I Tred to be the best that I could be the best that my mom and dad raised me to be because I still represent them even at this age I try to be a distinguished gentleman to whoever I come encounter with that's the core value of how I feel dealing with

anybody any ethnicity any age anybody that's who I am I mean you know I come from B level five straight to her so it's like it's more relaxed for me I ask how y'all feel like do it make you feel like you can do your time better here or would you rather be at a higher Max I'd rather do my time here at this low cuz a higher Max we don't get the we don't get the freedom we lock down all that we get freedom and it feels good so our feel good I be good

there it is we got to keep it real sometime people come and stand at this part of the yard and look at the sky and look at the outside world from right here just to get a taste what's coming in a future cuz we all one day will be out for many prisoners the gym is a place to relieve stress sport helps let's see the daily life of working out at NCC do I want to be on TV what kind of is this huh do I want go shave your nipples go shave every day hey

hey sir shut the gate please shut the gate what you know hey can you please shut the gate that just walked out can you please shut the gate all the way like it's supposed to be the dude the inmate that was working he seen it so they tried to give me a TR okay hey hey Mr come on over here come on over feel no me neither but here we are why do you got to run your mouth like that I'm asking someone to shut the gate I you just walked right by shut the gate

shut the gate I'm standing right here watching you I know you have a problem I can't say shut the gate no you don't need to be making comments like that when I'm asking someone to secure a gate shut the gate that's all I said no you didn't just say it like that but it don't matter how I say it does actually matter how you say it have a good rest of your day daily routine for Deputy Warden Ashley Brooks they could have spped it out yesterday actually they filmed my house how are you we're good

how are you good continue on Ashcraft can you believe um this gentleman right here about what was it 10 years ago now I walked into a juvenile facility and I had him there and then I walked into medical one day and I heard hey I know you and I was like oh no and I look over and it's it's JT and I'm like what are you doing in prison is he behaving absolutely good absolutely I come to check on all the time what are you doing for work uh I'm wheelchair Pusher wheelchair Pusher yeah um

do you qualify for mve do you know no uh I don't know they're looking for people to work and that's a good paying job it is yeah but if I do that they don't have to give up the wheelchair pushing job and he ain't going to have nobody to take him for real we can we can find someone to to replace the wheelchair Pusher a lot of people don't like doing things for niceness what he's saying Miss Brooks is that his wheelchair Pusher appreciates him like he wants him to push him because even in the

wheelchair business here you don't want everybody push you so JT's probably his he wants JT right is wheelchair pushing enough structured activity to keep Mr JT out of trouble I don't get in trouble I just sit and read the Bible all day that's all he do that's all I do you know Michael Ashcraft tries to keep his fellow prisoners in good spirits but that doesn't always work out of course a long day is slowly coming to an end for him too he closes the gate to his house just like it's supposed to be in the

Dynamo program Michael Whitfield is also slowly coming to a well-earned rest I've been in in uh 33 years uh in here uh 26 of them spent right here in Northeast Correctional Center yeah you know uh every day I'm just holding on uh trying to keep going with hope and prayer that you know I can I can walk out here straight up you know other than L down in the early evening the mood on the be side is also more relaxed at least for today this the end of the day it's almost count time so people

kind of com from jobs and kind of winding down you know how you get off work and you wind down and and get relaxed get ready to watch the TV shows or play some space and just talk you know what I'm saying just talk some you know some good old clean yeah Michael Ashcraft is on the way to a cell his job is exhausting the day almost over for me m come hold his in the back for me please get ready to watch some TV tie your hair down so it can stay down and kind

of keeping it neat together for tomorrow Tom and everything there we go all right yeah in prison routines are especially important Carlos Ashcraft and the other men must do their best to get through each and every day they must never let themselves get down and never show signs of weakness yeah even if you're in prison you still stay up on your hygiene your body odor all your freshness you still got to live yeah mhm finally another long day in prison has come to an end in the NECC the Northeast Correctional Center in the US state

of Missouri