The California Model, a system-wide change within the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, was inspired by prison operations in Norway and other Scandinavian countries where incarceration is considered an opportunity for recovery and rehabilitation rather than punishment.
The problem, according to whistleblower and retired correctional lieutenant Hector Bravo Ferrel, is that the implementation of this new model has actually led to significantly more violence and corruption.
In this episode of I Was There, Ferrel exposes what working inside California’s new prison model is really like, including the shocking events that led to his early retirement, and CDCR’s attempt to both silence him, and discredit his story.