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The inmates in California are running a
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muck. What is transpiring within the
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California model is not rehabilitation.
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They are failing to address the fact
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that these are inmates that have had an
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upbringing indoctrination into gangs.
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CDCR controlled the narrative for a very
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very very long time. The only people
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that knew what was happening inside of
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there was the people that worked there
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and the inmates in there. Hopeless in
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prison ising bad, man. Let me tell you.
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My full name is Hector Bravo Ferrell. So
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I worked for the California Department
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of Corrections and Rehabilitation for 16
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years. I began in November of 2006 and I
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ultimately resigned in December of 2022.
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The way I started out as a prison guard
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was my father was a CO started in 1993.
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began learning about the career in high
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school, career day, and ultimately with
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a goal was to join the military at the
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age of 17 and then get out at 21 and
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then apply for corrections. My goal was
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to do 30 years, 28 years up until my
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retirement age of 50. There was so many
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changes that transpired within those 16
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years, man. Policy changes became very
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dangerous,
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very unsafe. The California model
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originated from a lady. She took a trip
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to Norway, more of a quote unquote
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rehabilitative,
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friendly, be friends with the inmates
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type of mentality.
Welcome to the
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California model, a revolutionary
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initiative transforming the
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incarceration system for all, committed
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to improving the well-being of those who
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live in, work in, and visit state
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prisons. The first half of my career,
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the first eight years was a real uh
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unique time because all the prison gang
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leaders, the Mexican mafia members, the
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Noestra Familia members, Black Gorilla
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Family, and Aryan Brotherhood members,
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they were all locked away in the shoe in
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the security housing unit. Fast forward
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to the California model, prison gang
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leaders got released from the shoe, but
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we did see an uptick in murders.
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The California Department of Corrections
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and Rehabilitation had a general
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population side which is your regular GP
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uh inmates, your gang members, your
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murderers, your robbers, and then it had
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a sensitive needs yards, SNY, which is
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in essence is protective custody that
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houses child molesters, gang dropouts,
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uh informants, rats. With the California
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model, somebody got the bright idea to
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mix to mix GP and SNY inmates in essence
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enemies. So we were getting instructions
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from our captains, our associate wardens
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not to lock up inmates, not to place
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them in the administ segregation. Well,
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these inmates were stabbing and slashing
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each other in hopes of going to the hole
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so that they can get removed off that
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yard, but we were not removing them off
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that yard. So in essence, they were
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committing a lot of violence and not
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going anywhere. So that frustrated them
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to the point where they knew they had to
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hit a correctional officer, they had to
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stab a correctional officer in order for
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them to finally get removed. And I had
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told my staff too beforehand. I said,
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"Hey, get ready. They're going to start
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hitting us." From 6:00 in the morning to
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10:00 at night, every time the cell
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doors open, they they came after us.
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Prison riots can happen for numerous
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reasons. The inmates racially segregate
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themselves. That can start a riot, man.
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Simply walking in somebody else's area.
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We cannot go over and change people's
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whole ideology. They are failing to
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address the fact that these are inmates
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that have had an upbringing
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indoctrination into gangs. New Corkran.
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There's a video of the Fresno Bulldogs
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getting put on a yard. They're in their
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red jumpsuits. There's no correctional
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officers in sight. Torrenos and Nortenos
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start attacking those Fresno Bulldogs,
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man. Start stabbing them. Stabbing him
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in the throat. He almost got decapitated
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by the cane. It's a miracle he didn't
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die. It left an unsettling feeling in my
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stomach. Everything they're saying is
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totally opposite of survival. CDCR
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controlled the narrative for a very,
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very, very long time cuz the only people
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that knew what was happening inside of
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there was the people that worked there
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and the inmates in there. And if you're
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an employee, you are forbidden to speak
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about what happens in there without fear
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of retaliation or harassment or being
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terminated. And ultimately, you cannot
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cover up 72 dead bodies. Two of which
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were two visitors. Two female visitors
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strangled to death.
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Caesar Hernandez, a level four general
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population convicted murderer, escaped
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from Kern Valley State Prison. That's a
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fact. And that had never happened prior
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to the California model.
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In 2025, the inmates in California are
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running a muck. They're running a muck.
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It's a free-for-all. What is transpiring
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within the California model is not
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rehabilitation. If an inmate assaults a
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staff member, you don't reward the
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inmate by playing a game of foosball
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with him right afterwards. You have
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these new officers telling them to
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befriend these inmates. So, not only is
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it setting you up for violent
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encounters, but it's also setting you up
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for manipulation.
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And inmates are masters of manipulation.
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We have been seeing incidents that have
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never really transpired within CDCR
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before. One of them, a female
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correctional officer at Sierra
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Conservation Center in Jamestown. She
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was working in the control booth up in
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the tower and an inmate managed to sneak
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his way up there into the tower where
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there's a rifle. And over an eight hour
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span, he proceeded to rape her. And this
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is all after the California model has
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been enacted. And if it was working, I
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would be fair enough to say it was
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working. But the 72 murders and the
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numerous attempted murders on correction
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officers show that it's not working.
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There's no more safety and security.
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There's no more consequences for
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people's actions. We just had an inmate
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murder three people,
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three other inmates in a year time span.
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How did that happen? There was an
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attempted murder on two correction
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officers at Richard J. Donovan
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Correctional Facility August 2020. It
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was a Mexican mafia member. He was drunk
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with his entourage. They walk around
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with bodyguards. Apparently, some words
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were exchanged with between the
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correctional officer and the inmates and
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they viciously attacked him with
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weapons. They stabbed the correctional
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officer all up in his mouth, knocked his
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teeth in, took the officer's baton,
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crushed his face. It's a miracle that
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these these these officers didn't die.
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Uh, they got stabbed, beat up,
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pepper-sprayed with their own pepper
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spray. And what did the warden do at
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that time? He covered it up. How do I
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know this? Because I was a public
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information officer at the time, the
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PIO. I was the warden's right-hand man.
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An associate warden blew the whistle by
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sending an email saying, "Hey, this
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attempted murder happened because of the
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incompetent warden, the incompetent
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captain, and the chief deputy warden."
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And I got a call from headquarters from
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the director's office saying, "Hey, we
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need you to type up a letter to the
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media refuting those allegations against
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our managers." And I'm like, "Refuting?
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Why would I refute? What is the truth?"
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And 5 minutes later, I get an email
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saying, "Hey, don't worry about that
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letter. We already typed one up." And in
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that letter that she wrote to the
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public, it said, "Crad headquarters has
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full support of the administration at
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Richard J. Donovan Correctional
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Facility. There has been no wrongdoings
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found and I was absolutely disgusted,
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man, because it it hadn't even been a
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day and there had not even been an
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investigation. Once I realized that
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Headquarters Sacramento had covered up
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the attempted murders of those two
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correctional officers, I knew how far
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the corruption went up. The last and
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final straw for me to quit was we had an
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associate director come down from
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headquarters to Donovan prison and speak
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to all of us supervisors at the
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conference table. And this is what he
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proceeded to tell us. If an inmate tells
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you he does not want to be placed in
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handcuffs, you will not place him in
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handcuffs. So we were all confused and
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and told him like, no, that's not going
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to happen. You know, penal code penal
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code dictates that we can place an
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inmate in handcuffs for our safety. and
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he said, "No, we don't do what penal
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code does. That's what cops on the
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street do. If you do it, you're going to
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get in trouble." So, I realized that
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they were blatantly violating the law
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all to push an agenda. If I can turn
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back the hand of time to 2009,
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a perfect CDCR model would be release
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the inmates from the shoe, put them in a
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certain prison, okay? crack down more on
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the inmates going to the sensitive needs
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yard, cut off the intake to SNY unless
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it was a legitimate reason and implement
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rehabilitative programs at that time.
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Substance abuse counselors, uh, mental
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health treatment. When the laws changed
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in around 2014ish,
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that's when these lifers started getting
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action and started going home. I saw the
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change in in the inmates behavior when
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it comes to hope. Hopeless in prison is
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bad, man. Let me tell you. So,
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if there can be a perfect system, it
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would have been in ' 09, but give them
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hope. I resigned at the age of 38. It
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did cross my mind to stick around and do
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my full career and collect a pension.
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How much value would that hold that I
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finished off my career went along with
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the BS
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and then now all of a sudden I want to
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talk and now all of a sudden I want to
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blow the whistle in hindsight. I figured
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it was paramount that I do it then and
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there while it was happening real time
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and I felt that it would hold more
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value. The California Department of
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Corrections and Rehabilitation have
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opened up investigations into seeing
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who's uh
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contacting me, who's talking to me, who
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may or may not be sending me
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information. So, they're actually
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utilizing taxpayer money and state
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resources to try to go after people that
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want to do the right thing. They said
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that I got fired from the prison system.
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That's false and inaccurate. They said
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that I quit because I was going to get
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fired. That's false and inaccurate. I
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believe I'm living my purpose. I'm
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believe I'm living my passion. There's a
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reason why I didn't die
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in Iraq when I should have very well
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died and a lot of my brothers did.
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There's a reason why I worked in the
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California Department of Corrections and
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saw what I saw and was able to leave and
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speak out on it. I believe my purpose is
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to speak to the masses, educate them.
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And you're right, I wasn't an outsider.
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I know exactly what it is to be human.
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It's a gift. It's a gift. And a lot of
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people take that for granted.
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[Music]
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Heat. Heat.
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[Music]
