Life Inside Jail: ITV documentary shows ‘Hell on Earth’ behind bars in New York

Hard-hitting two-parter depicts a melting pot of low-level criminals and hardened convicts
High security: ITV go inside the Albany County jail in New York in a new documentary
ITV / Voltage
Ben Travis28 June 2016

ITV’s two-part documentary about life inside a New York jail comes at a fitting time – just a few days after the return of Netflix’s Orange is the New Black.

Despite having its comedic moments, Season 4 of the drama, set in a New York women’s correctional facility, portrayed a world of dangerous alliances, abuses of power, and unexpected acts of brutality.

Shot across six months in the Albany County Jail, 150 miles north of Manhattan, the film meets the inmates who find themselves behind bars.

It’s a mix of ‘petty criminals’ alongside more hardened convicts who have gone down for violence or drug-related offences.

“You can get everything in here from just a simple marijuana dealer, all the way up to a double- triple-homicide,” says one officer.

As a jail rather than a prison, it’s a holding place for those awaiting a trial or bail, with an average stay of 42 days.

“The majority of our inmates at Albany County are pre-sentence,” explains Albany County Sheriff, Craig Apple. “Some people will come in for a few hours, make bail and get out, and never see the place again.”

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The documentary, from Lee Phillips, the BAFTA winner behind Her Majesty’s Prison: Aylesbury, depicts the levels and categorisation of the inmates, from non-violent Level 1s, to maximum security Level 4s.

There’s one location which will definitely be familiar to Orange is the New Black viewers: the SHU. It’s an isolated space away from the other inmates, and those who find themselves in there are left in a blank cell for 23 hours of the day. The other hour is a handcuffed recreation period.

ITV, 9pm

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