Ninety miles east of Denver, Colorado, Inside Wire, the nation's first and solely statewide jail radio station, runs like some other radio station.
Jody Aguirre, an inmate at Limon Correctional Facility and one of many on-air hosts, has been in jail for 3 a long time. His voice will be heard around the globe due to Inside Wire, which is broadcast to all of Colorado's correctional services and streamed on-line to the general public.
He is one in every of 14 inmates chosen throughout 4 prisons to DJ and produces exhibits on the radio station, which launched in March.
Aguirre mentioned that Inside Wire permits him the chance to higher himself
Although the station broadcasts 24/7, every episode is pre-taped and screened by employees and sometimes ends on a word of encouragement.
Whereas the radio station is supported by the jail, some critics say it is a luxurious that inmates shouldn't be experiencing. However Aguirre mentioned that Inside Wire provides inmates like himself a chance to higher themselves.
"What would you slightly have us be doing in right here? Beating one another up? Or creating music exhibits and radio and serving to our fellow males in right here and girls in right here turn out to be higher folks?" Aguirre instructed CBS Information.
"It exhibits that, that we're people who love and care, have compassion, remorse, regret," he added.
Aguirre was sentenced to life in jail in 1992 for fees together with homicide.
Pushed to despair in solitary confinement 20 years in the past, he tried to take his personal life till one thing came visiting the jail's radio system.
"The music 'Do not Give Up' by Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush got here on. All I bear in mind is that I heard these phrases, 'Do not surrender, we love you' and I simply forgot all the things I used to be doing and right here I'm. You already know, I did not die that day," he mentioned.
Aguirre mentioned identical to how the radio station saved his life, he hopes his work with Inside Wire will permit him to do the identical for an additional inmate who's battling loneliness.
Inside Wire Common Supervisor Ryan Conarro helped launch the station in partnership with the College of Denver's jail arts initiative.
"One of the best we will do when somebody, when any of us commits hurt, is definitely work to take duty for that, to restore that, after which go ahead," Conarro mentioned.
He wished to construct a neighborhood inside the jail and construct a greater relationship with inmates and correctional guards who work collectively to create the content material that goes on air.
Programming on Inside Wire consists of inmates interviewing correctional officers and different jail employees.
Conarro mentioned he additionally takes crime victims' households under consideration and their considerations very severely.
"If somebody goes to maneuver from committing hurt to repairing that hurt, that features that particular person taking accountability. And if the sufferer needs to interact or the sufferer's folks need to have interaction in that dialogue, then that is how the particular person wants to indicate up," Conarro mentioned.
Inside Wire refers back to the wire as a connection — a connection that has the ability to journey 90 miles, reaching Aguirre's daughter, Amber Baca.
She was simply 11 years previous when her father was arrested. Now, she listens to him very first thing each Tuesday morning when his present airs.
"'I am very happy with my dad," Baca mentioned. "The energy that he has and the energy that he is been capable of withhold this complete time. I really feel like most individuals would crumble beneath, however he simply strives and will get larger and better. That is actually necessary to me."
Although he'll probably by no means go away jail, Aguirre is striving to be a greater man than the one who first walked in.
"I'm going to my cell and I really feel like I've achieved one thing. One thing day by day. All you must do is be higher. It is so simple as that," mentioned Aguirre.