1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:02,000 Speaker 1: It's the Hammer and Nigel Show. My name is Nigel 2 00:00:02,040 --> 00:00:04,280 Speaker 1: Jason Hammer right over there with a very special in 3 00:00:04,360 --> 00:00:05,160 Speaker 1: studio guests. 4 00:00:05,519 --> 00:00:10,239 Speaker 2: Ryan Hedrick is with the WIBC News department and he 5 00:00:10,280 --> 00:00:12,840 Speaker 2: has been working on a story that I find to 6 00:00:12,880 --> 00:00:17,560 Speaker 2: be incredibly fascinating. This is almost like an investigative piece 7 00:00:17,600 --> 00:00:19,759 Speaker 2: that you decided to go out and do on your own. 8 00:00:20,280 --> 00:00:21,919 Speaker 2: Walk me through what you did. 9 00:00:22,040 --> 00:00:24,439 Speaker 3: Yeah, this story came about a couple of days ago. Guys, 10 00:00:24,480 --> 00:00:27,040 Speaker 3: thanks for having me. So I went to the Justice 11 00:00:27,080 --> 00:00:31,160 Speaker 3: Center yesterday here in Indianapolis, which houses the court building 12 00:00:31,320 --> 00:00:35,360 Speaker 3: and the jail, and I found out through an inmate 13 00:00:35,400 --> 00:00:37,919 Speaker 3: who did time a couple of years ago. His name 14 00:00:38,000 --> 00:00:40,280 Speaker 3: is Rick, but he didn't really want to be identified 15 00:00:40,320 --> 00:00:43,600 Speaker 3: other than Rick. He was serving some time for domestic 16 00:00:43,920 --> 00:00:48,120 Speaker 3: but when he was in there, Rick uncovered and actually 17 00:00:48,240 --> 00:00:53,560 Speaker 3: witnessed drug sales, extortion, and violence going on between inmates 18 00:00:53,600 --> 00:00:58,640 Speaker 3: and corrections officers in an environment that he described was barbaric. 19 00:00:59,280 --> 00:01:02,680 Speaker 2: So I think most people like that don't really follow 20 00:01:02,720 --> 00:01:05,120 Speaker 2: this stuff closely, would think that there would be some 21 00:01:05,319 --> 00:01:08,720 Speaker 2: level of violence that does take place in a jail, sure, 22 00:01:08,840 --> 00:01:11,200 Speaker 2: or things like that, But it sounds like what you're 23 00:01:11,240 --> 00:01:12,959 Speaker 2: telling me is some next level stuff. 24 00:01:13,040 --> 00:01:15,240 Speaker 3: Yeah, this is now. You guys have to understand. The 25 00:01:15,240 --> 00:01:18,720 Speaker 3: Marion County Jail is funded to the tune of hundreds 26 00:01:18,720 --> 00:01:21,720 Speaker 3: of millions of dollars. The Marion County Sheriff's Office has 27 00:01:21,760 --> 00:01:25,640 Speaker 3: a tremendous budget, and every year Carrie Forrestall comes in 28 00:01:25,680 --> 00:01:29,160 Speaker 3: front of the City County Council Public Safety Committee and says, 29 00:01:29,200 --> 00:01:31,720 Speaker 3: I need more money for a B and C. And 30 00:01:31,800 --> 00:01:34,800 Speaker 3: now you have gang members running this jail. I can 31 00:01:34,880 --> 00:01:38,720 Speaker 3: confirm the boys over at Post Road, these young kids 32 00:01:38,720 --> 00:01:42,160 Speaker 3: that are locked up for gun crimes are extorting inmates 33 00:01:42,200 --> 00:01:46,080 Speaker 3: that are coming into the jail, basically telling them they 34 00:01:46,120 --> 00:01:50,280 Speaker 3: cannot sleep on a bed until they offer some form 35 00:01:50,360 --> 00:01:53,480 Speaker 3: of payment. Now, payment and jail can be stamps, it 36 00:01:53,520 --> 00:01:56,760 Speaker 3: could be commissary, it could be ramen noodles. I know 37 00:01:56,800 --> 00:01:59,880 Speaker 3: that sounds weird, but it is. But they're extorting people. 38 00:02:00,040 --> 00:02:02,680 Speaker 3: And then to top it off, you have an insane 39 00:02:02,760 --> 00:02:05,559 Speaker 3: amount of drugs coming into the jail. And I guess 40 00:02:05,600 --> 00:02:08,480 Speaker 3: we could get at the next but that's what's happening 41 00:02:08,520 --> 00:02:08,839 Speaker 3: in there. 42 00:02:08,880 --> 00:02:10,720 Speaker 1: Well, it was really I was just when you said 43 00:02:10,720 --> 00:02:14,880 Speaker 1: correctional officers were involved. That just made my throat sink 44 00:02:14,919 --> 00:02:18,440 Speaker 1: into my stomach. Because now that when you say next 45 00:02:18,560 --> 00:02:22,040 Speaker 1: level hammer, we're talking people that we trust. We're talking 46 00:02:22,040 --> 00:02:26,040 Speaker 1: about people that we trust to, you know, facilitate what 47 00:02:26,240 --> 00:02:27,520 Speaker 1: goes on in these places. 48 00:02:27,600 --> 00:02:30,000 Speaker 3: Yeah, and guys, people would say, whoa, whoa, whoa, you're 49 00:02:30,040 --> 00:02:32,960 Speaker 3: being hyperbolic, But no, that's not the case because there's 50 00:02:33,000 --> 00:02:36,119 Speaker 3: a documented case. A couple of weeks ago, a guy 51 00:02:36,200 --> 00:02:40,600 Speaker 3: named Bryce Birdsong, he was a corrections officer, was busted 52 00:02:40,760 --> 00:02:45,000 Speaker 3: smuggling suboxin strips. Now, suboxin strips are an opiate replacement. 53 00:02:45,360 --> 00:02:48,240 Speaker 3: When you're using heroin as a heroin addict, you would 54 00:02:48,240 --> 00:02:51,200 Speaker 3: go to the doctor and the doctor would say, okay, 55 00:02:51,240 --> 00:02:54,800 Speaker 3: well go to rehab and I'll give you suboxin strips. 56 00:02:54,880 --> 00:02:56,600 Speaker 3: And what they do is they give you a little 57 00:02:56,600 --> 00:02:58,760 Speaker 3: bit of dose. You put it under your tongue. It 58 00:02:58,919 --> 00:03:02,720 Speaker 3: sinks in, It blocks the opiate receptors, and they would 59 00:03:02,760 --> 00:03:05,359 Speaker 3: wean you off, yeah, off of it, to get off 60 00:03:05,360 --> 00:03:09,240 Speaker 3: the heroin. And this corrections officer, Bryce bird Song, now 61 00:03:09,240 --> 00:03:14,160 Speaker 3: facing multiple felonies, was busted smuggling subox and strips. When 62 00:03:14,200 --> 00:03:16,400 Speaker 3: they got him, they got them with marijuana, a gun, 63 00:03:16,840 --> 00:03:19,960 Speaker 3: and two thousand dollars. This guy was making two thousand 64 00:03:19,960 --> 00:03:23,160 Speaker 3: dollars a week to smuggle drugs into the jail. 65 00:03:23,280 --> 00:03:24,440 Speaker 1: This was a corrections office. 66 00:03:24,480 --> 00:03:27,480 Speaker 3: This was a corrections officer. We did reporting on it. 67 00:03:27,520 --> 00:03:29,840 Speaker 3: People could look it up. His name is Bryce Birdsong. 68 00:03:30,280 --> 00:03:33,720 Speaker 2: And again to remind our audience, the correctional facility we're 69 00:03:33,720 --> 00:03:37,520 Speaker 2: talking about is the quote unquote newer justice center that 70 00:03:37,720 --> 00:03:40,000 Speaker 2: cost more money but has less beds. 71 00:03:40,080 --> 00:03:42,840 Speaker 3: Right, yeah, it has less beds and it's more violent. 72 00:03:42,920 --> 00:03:47,400 Speaker 3: And again, corrections officers. Now, I did this report. I 73 00:03:47,440 --> 00:03:51,560 Speaker 3: revealed it on TikTok last night, already seen fifty thousand times. 74 00:03:51,960 --> 00:03:57,480 Speaker 3: I woke up to twenty messages from individual people telling 75 00:03:57,560 --> 00:04:01,360 Speaker 3: me that they wanted to share stories, their stories aside 76 00:04:01,360 --> 00:04:04,480 Speaker 3: from Rick's story, about what their experience was at the 77 00:04:04,520 --> 00:04:06,960 Speaker 3: Marion County Jail. One woman who I don't want to 78 00:04:06,960 --> 00:04:09,560 Speaker 3: say her name because I haven't thoroughly vetted her, told 79 00:04:09,640 --> 00:04:14,680 Speaker 3: me that she believes a corrections officer killed her brother. 80 00:04:15,240 --> 00:04:18,440 Speaker 3: They found him unresponsive in his cell a couple of 81 00:04:18,480 --> 00:04:21,719 Speaker 3: years ago. He was only twenty six and the autopsy 82 00:04:21,880 --> 00:04:25,000 Speaker 3: was a little shady. But there's definitely something going on 83 00:04:25,120 --> 00:04:28,240 Speaker 3: at that jail right now. So Ryan, we trust you 84 00:04:28,279 --> 00:04:31,040 Speaker 3: with everything. That you say, But what's your response? Because 85 00:04:31,080 --> 00:04:32,920 Speaker 3: I know people are going to listen to this and go, 86 00:04:33,120 --> 00:04:36,400 Speaker 3: wait a minute. Your sources are people that have lied 87 00:04:36,440 --> 00:04:39,239 Speaker 3: in the past, or done something illegal or served time. 88 00:04:40,440 --> 00:04:42,839 Speaker 3: Why should we trust these people telling you their story? 89 00:04:42,960 --> 00:04:45,160 Speaker 3: Because I think you have to trust these people a 90 00:04:45,360 --> 00:04:49,719 Speaker 3: because they're human and it's an eyewitness account of what's happening. 91 00:04:49,760 --> 00:04:53,159 Speaker 3: Whether you trust them or not. There's no reason Rick 92 00:04:53,279 --> 00:04:56,640 Speaker 3: has no incentive to lie to me because he doesn't 93 00:04:56,640 --> 00:04:59,039 Speaker 3: have anything to gain. I mean, there was no exchange 94 00:04:59,080 --> 00:05:02,880 Speaker 3: of goods and service. And this is not an individual. 95 00:05:02,960 --> 00:05:05,880 Speaker 3: This is not one individual Jason and Nigel, this is 96 00:05:05,920 --> 00:05:09,720 Speaker 3: not one individual. This is multiple people in my inbox 97 00:05:09,760 --> 00:05:12,599 Speaker 3: saying Yeah, you can go on my TikTok and look 98 00:05:12,600 --> 00:05:16,800 Speaker 3: at people agreeing that this firsthand to count that Rick 99 00:05:16,960 --> 00:05:20,440 Speaker 3: is offering me is completely accurate, down to the violence, 100 00:05:20,800 --> 00:05:22,960 Speaker 3: down to the drugs, down to the corruption with the 101 00:05:23,000 --> 00:05:24,839 Speaker 3: Marion County Corrections officers. 102 00:05:25,160 --> 00:05:28,640 Speaker 2: Ryan Hedrick is with us from the WIBC newsroom. Has 103 00:05:28,760 --> 00:05:33,200 Speaker 2: an amazing story report out about some behavior if you 104 00:05:33,279 --> 00:05:36,560 Speaker 2: want to call it that, at the Justice Center here 105 00:05:36,600 --> 00:05:41,279 Speaker 2: in Marion County. How I'm fascinated with your sources to 106 00:05:41,320 --> 00:05:44,720 Speaker 2: be honest with you, like, how does one reach out 107 00:05:44,760 --> 00:05:47,160 Speaker 2: to somebody that's looking to get into this? Did they 108 00:05:47,240 --> 00:05:48,800 Speaker 2: reach out to you? Can you remind me how that 109 00:05:48,839 --> 00:05:49,560 Speaker 2: worked out again? 110 00:05:49,680 --> 00:05:52,320 Speaker 3: Yeah? So basically, I've been doing a lot of TikTok 111 00:05:52,400 --> 00:05:55,760 Speaker 3: reporting to enhance my storytelling skills and to get more 112 00:05:55,880 --> 00:06:00,240 Speaker 3: diverse and longer form stories out to the Indianapolis community. 113 00:06:00,279 --> 00:06:02,640 Speaker 3: In the midst of doing that, this guy hit me 114 00:06:02,680 --> 00:06:05,159 Speaker 3: in my inbox and said, look, I have something for 115 00:06:05,240 --> 00:06:08,200 Speaker 3: you to look into as far as vetting sources. I 116 00:06:08,320 --> 00:06:11,560 Speaker 3: can I tell you that I spent an hour with 117 00:06:11,760 --> 00:06:15,159 Speaker 3: this guy before we even went on tape. We sorted 118 00:06:15,200 --> 00:06:18,960 Speaker 3: everything out. I asked him questions. I look for redundancies 119 00:06:19,000 --> 00:06:22,279 Speaker 3: and inconsistencies in his story, and this guy was one 120 00:06:22,360 --> 00:06:25,640 Speaker 3: hundred percent accurate. And I consider myself a pretty good 121 00:06:25,680 --> 00:06:29,479 Speaker 3: judge of sources when it comes to gathering news. I 122 00:06:29,520 --> 00:06:31,880 Speaker 3: think that is one of my stronger suits. 123 00:06:32,000 --> 00:06:35,160 Speaker 1: Is this story that you're telling part of what he 124 00:06:35,279 --> 00:06:38,720 Speaker 1: keep hearing about The inmates were hitting the lights with 125 00:06:38,760 --> 00:06:42,960 Speaker 1: their trays and smoking synthetic marijuana. Yes, so this all 126 00:06:43,080 --> 00:06:45,640 Speaker 1: is all encompassing here. This is another aspect of what's 127 00:06:45,680 --> 00:06:46,080 Speaker 1: going on. 128 00:06:46,160 --> 00:06:48,960 Speaker 3: Yeah, And The context for that is when you don't 129 00:06:49,000 --> 00:06:52,080 Speaker 3: have fire, how you can make a fire is popping 130 00:06:52,160 --> 00:06:56,000 Speaker 3: these lights, these fluorescent lights, and if they're hot enough, 131 00:06:56,040 --> 00:06:59,400 Speaker 3: you could stick toilet paper which resembles a wick, and 132 00:06:59,560 --> 00:07:02,440 Speaker 3: rolled the tip of the toilet paper tight enough and 133 00:07:02,520 --> 00:07:04,599 Speaker 3: hold it to the light and it's going to catch fire. 134 00:07:04,920 --> 00:07:09,440 Speaker 3: These people are jamming their meal trays, breaking the light fixtures, 135 00:07:09,800 --> 00:07:12,880 Speaker 3: creating a heat source, sticking the wick up to the light, 136 00:07:13,240 --> 00:07:16,960 Speaker 3: and then lighting these smuggled drugs that they're getting into 137 00:07:16,960 --> 00:07:20,840 Speaker 3: the Marion County jail getting high by any means necessary. 138 00:07:21,800 --> 00:07:25,320 Speaker 2: Okay, I want to go back to the the gang 139 00:07:25,400 --> 00:07:30,080 Speaker 2: members post road gang members that are in essence running 140 00:07:30,080 --> 00:07:32,800 Speaker 2: what it sounds like the inside of this joint, charging 141 00:07:32,840 --> 00:07:37,080 Speaker 2: other inmates for beds. How does that happen? Like I 142 00:07:37,120 --> 00:07:39,760 Speaker 2: think to the average person listening that doesn't know a 143 00:07:39,800 --> 00:07:42,960 Speaker 2: lot about what goes on inside of a jail or prison, like, 144 00:07:43,040 --> 00:07:45,840 Speaker 2: how do you let the quote unquote inmates run the asieline? 145 00:07:45,840 --> 00:07:49,239 Speaker 3: All right? So the processing center is like you're getting booked, 146 00:07:49,280 --> 00:07:52,160 Speaker 3: you're getting arrested, you're getting booked, you're getting finger printed. 147 00:07:52,200 --> 00:07:55,120 Speaker 3: You go to the processing center and the jail will 148 00:07:55,120 --> 00:07:57,560 Speaker 3: have multiple floors you could go to once you get 149 00:07:57,600 --> 00:08:01,720 Speaker 3: past booking and assigned a dorm. These people that are 150 00:08:01,760 --> 00:08:03,800 Speaker 3: going to prison, I mean they're taking the worst of 151 00:08:03,880 --> 00:08:07,400 Speaker 3: the worst. You gotta think people killing people, manslaughter, big 152 00:08:07,480 --> 00:08:11,120 Speaker 3: drug traffickers. They are controlling these dorms. And the reason 153 00:08:11,120 --> 00:08:13,840 Speaker 3: they're doing it and they can do it is because 154 00:08:13,880 --> 00:08:17,000 Speaker 3: these corrections officers are absent. They're only in it for 155 00:08:17,040 --> 00:08:21,000 Speaker 3: a paycheck, and because the job is inherently violent and dangerous. 156 00:08:21,200 --> 00:08:23,440 Speaker 3: They're like, I'm not screwing with that. So you have 157 00:08:23,560 --> 00:08:27,160 Speaker 3: these inmates that are kind of like taking the temperature 158 00:08:27,200 --> 00:08:30,000 Speaker 3: of the people coming in seeing what they can get. 159 00:08:30,440 --> 00:08:34,520 Speaker 3: And if you're somebody that's introduced to a cell, these 160 00:08:34,600 --> 00:08:36,880 Speaker 3: kids are going to gang up on you and extort 161 00:08:36,920 --> 00:08:38,040 Speaker 3: you for everything you have. 162 00:08:38,240 --> 00:08:42,760 Speaker 1: And these correction officers have a different level, or maybe 163 00:08:42,800 --> 00:08:46,200 Speaker 1: a lower level of authority than a police officer. Yeah, 164 00:08:46,280 --> 00:08:48,400 Speaker 1: I think, I mean it's a fair statement. 165 00:08:48,679 --> 00:08:51,480 Speaker 3: No, I mean, in terms of arresting people, you have 166 00:08:51,559 --> 00:08:53,920 Speaker 3: to think of the jail as the actual streets. So 167 00:08:54,000 --> 00:08:56,719 Speaker 3: they are the authority figure in the jail. Yes, they 168 00:08:56,720 --> 00:08:59,360 Speaker 3: have all the authority, but they're scared to get hurt. 169 00:08:59,360 --> 00:09:01,319 Speaker 3: They want to go to their families, and a lot 170 00:09:01,320 --> 00:09:04,520 Speaker 3: of people are telling me that corrections officers aren't making 171 00:09:04,559 --> 00:09:06,760 Speaker 3: a lot of money, so the juice is not worth 172 00:09:06,760 --> 00:09:09,920 Speaker 3: the squeeze when it comes to intervening in a potential 173 00:09:09,960 --> 00:09:11,560 Speaker 3: situation where you may get in a fight. 174 00:09:12,040 --> 00:09:15,000 Speaker 2: Ryan Headrick of the WIBC newsroom with us got less 175 00:09:15,040 --> 00:09:17,880 Speaker 2: than a minute left here. So again, what was the 176 00:09:17,920 --> 00:09:20,960 Speaker 2: most damning, most outrageous thing you heard? 177 00:09:21,160 --> 00:09:24,160 Speaker 3: The most outrageous thing I heard from this story is 178 00:09:24,240 --> 00:09:28,200 Speaker 3: the fact that he is witnessing these drugs in these dorms. 179 00:09:28,240 --> 00:09:31,080 Speaker 3: He told me, it's not only your box, Rick, It's 180 00:09:31,120 --> 00:09:33,720 Speaker 3: not only Katie, yes, my source. Rick, It's not only 181 00:09:33,760 --> 00:09:37,520 Speaker 3: the Kadie, the synthetic stuff. It's the crystal myth, it's 182 00:09:37,600 --> 00:09:40,720 Speaker 3: the cocaine. It's the heroine, the black tar heroin. And 183 00:09:40,760 --> 00:09:43,240 Speaker 3: you have to imagine, the only way that you can 184 00:09:43,280 --> 00:09:46,760 Speaker 3: get this stuff into the jail is through smuggling, is 185 00:09:46,800 --> 00:09:50,040 Speaker 3: through an inside source. Something is going on. Our tax 186 00:09:50,120 --> 00:09:53,000 Speaker 3: dollars are going to fund that jail, and that's why 187 00:09:53,040 --> 00:09:55,320 Speaker 3: this is a huge story. And people are overdosing in 188 00:09:55,360 --> 00:09:57,960 Speaker 3: that jail. Guys, we get emails about it all the time. 189 00:09:57,960 --> 00:10:01,360 Speaker 3: People are overdosing, People are losing our lives in that 190 00:10:01,640 --> 00:10:02,679 Speaker 3: Justice Center. It's wrong. 191 00:10:03,120 --> 00:10:06,280 Speaker 2: Where can we find this story and get more information? 192 00:10:06,520 --> 00:10:09,800 Speaker 3: WIBC dot com. You can follow me on TikTok, look 193 00:10:09,840 --> 00:10:12,760 Speaker 3: up Sure to cover number two Ryan Hedrick, and you 194 00:10:12,760 --> 00:10:15,760 Speaker 3: could go to WIBC dot com. It's in the rotator 195 00:10:15,800 --> 00:10:16,400 Speaker 3: all day long. 196 00:10:16,640 --> 00:10:19,120 Speaker 2: Ryan Headrich, great stuff, man, keep up on that story, 197 00:10:19,280 --> 00:10:21,400 Speaker 2: appreciate it. It's the Hammer and Nigel Show.