Located 150 miles north of Manhattan, Albany County Jail sees petty thieves mix with hardened gangsters, drug addicts and multiple murderers while they wait for their cases to go to court. Conditions are seriously tough – even though, in the eyes of the law, the inmates are presumed innocent until proven guilty. Headed up by Sheriff Craig Apple and his team of 240 dedicated Correctional Officers, the jail accommodates over a thousand men and women across 22 different housing units. While the average stay in Albany is just 42 days – those accused of the most serious crimes can expect to be there for a year or more. In episode 1, Correctional Officers at Albany jail are challenged by the arrival of seven senior gangsters transferred from New York’s most notorious prison, Rikers Island. Meanwhile, a 23-year-old ‘straight A-student’, Michael Chmielewski, is arrested for the murder of a local hairdresser following a break-in that went wrong; and heroin addict, and mother of four, Tammy Lord tries to go clean.
In Albany, you are more than twice as likely to be a victim of violent crime compared to New York City. The Hudson River, running through the city marks out rival gang territory, and law enforcement face ongoing battles against the ruthless gang members from the opposing Bloods and Crips taking shots at each other to secure their drug trade. Once inside jail, inmates are categorized according to their level of risk. Level One inmates are non-violent and may be in for petty crimes: Driving While Intoxicated (DWI), drug possession, failure to pay a fine ... one inmate was facing a week behind bars for stealing a frozen chicken, another for the theft of a shopping trolley. Level 4 inmates are held on the maximum-security tier. Here, the 8ft by 7ft barred cells offer no privacy – and few home comforts. This part of the jail is an intimidating place to call home - with gang rivalries often spilling over from the streets, only the toughest will survive. Those who find it impossible to “play by the rules” find themselves in the jail’s ‘Special Housing Unit’ or SHU. Feared by many inmates, the SHU is a jail within the jail. Here, inmates live in segregation, and under very strict rules. They spend over 23 hours a day locked in their cell, and are only let out for recreation wearing handcuffs and shackles to stretch out in a small indoor cage. In episode two, 6ft 7’ Jarquell Williams is on trial for murder after being accused of shooting a local man. Meanwhile young mum Shea Hobbs pays the price for covering a string of burglaries committed by her boyfriend; and addict Samantha Ujheyli faces a monumental decision when offered a deal to ‘snitch’ on her boyfriend.