The S.Q.U.I.R.E.S. of San Quentin teamed up with the Los Angeles Police Department to give 32 at-risk boys a tour of the prison in hope of diverting them from future criminal activity.
The impact is illustrated by comments from two of the boys at the end of the tour:
“They don’t mess around. I thought it was fun and games, but I see it’s not. They got murderers and people on Death Row. It’s scary,” said Oscar Lopez.
“I’m going to respect my mother. I’m going to respect other family members, and I’m going to stop doing the things I was doing,” said Chris Montana.
Organizers said the tour helped the boys see the difference between the real world and a world where violence, drugs and death are common themes.
Edwin L. Henderson, executive director of On a Mission, was accompanied by LAPD officers Gus Tarian, Oscar Ibanez, Erwin Rocha and Lori Green to show the South Central Los Angeles youngsters the real side of criminal activity.
Henderson said On a Mission’s goal is to show kids that prison is no Hollywood movie.
The prisoners who led the group of kids are a part of a program called SQUIRES.
Facilitators of SQUIRES say they offer mentorship to boys on the brink of entering into the criminal justice system.
The day began with the youngsters submitting to clothed body searches conducted by serious-looking guards in front of the prison.
Next, they went through the Sally Port, the entry portal between two sets of huge iron doors marking the entry to where inmates live and work in San Quentin State Prison.
“Now, listen up! You are not in boot camp. You are in San Quentin State Prison, where there are different rules. When you hear an alarm go off, you will get down and stay down until you are told the alarm is cleared,” SQUIRES facilitator James Cavitt told the youngsters. “When you hear ‘Escort!,’ you will turn around and face the wall until the escort has passed. Today you will be one of us,” he explained.
Their indoctrination included an agreement to honor three basic principles: respect, honesty and confidentiality.
Later, the group walked to the Lower Yard, where hundreds of prisoners were going about their daily prison routines.
“Look at that little one there. He looks like he’ll be here in a couple years,” one prisoner remarked.
In an attempt to show these youngsters the consequences of bad choices, ex-gang member Markee Carter, whose ex-gang name was Keke Loc, gave a presentation just outside the entrance of Death Row.
“These guys you see in this picture are all dead,” Carter tells them. “They’re all under 25 years old,” he added.
The boys stared at the photo gallery wide-eyed and silent.
“Here’s one of my homeboys who caught a life sentence at 16,” said Carter. “This can happen to you, if you follow the wrong crowd.”
Carter then showed the boys a picture of all-star football player DeSean Jackson.
“He’s from the same neighborhood that I came from. But he didn’t follow the crowd. He made something out of his life,” Carter said.
The group was taken to one of the worst cell blocks in San Quentin, Badger section. Inmates began yelling profanities and insults to the children. Suddenly, an alarm went off, and the boys were instructed to follow the rules and get down.
“If you end up in prison, these are some of the things you have to adapt to—someone instructing your everyday life,” Thomas Winfrey, who has worked with SQUIRES for the past year, told the boys.
“Remember, each of you has a choice in life,” said Winfrey.
The tour then went to the prison’s Education Building, giving the youngsters the opportunity to discuss some of the problems they have in their lives.
They spoke about their hardships and the obstacles that interfered with their upbringing. The kids were able to talk about absent parents, about drug-using parents, and about parents who were or had been in prison.
