And while the disapproval percentages for television and weightlifting privileges were barely more than half the sample for the general public, the news media viewed these activities much more favorably. Inmates also work inside the prison doing laundry, cooking, cleaning and repairing prisons. The DC does have chain gangs. Current DC squads work outside the secure perimeter of the institution on institutional property under the armed supervision of Correctional Officers. The inmates are shackled individually at the ankles and are not connected to each other in any manner for reasons of security and safety.
Inmates have only limited access to television.
No new television sets are purchased with taxpayers dollars. Inmates do have access to weightlifting equipment, but only after they have completed classroom and work assignments and if they have been free of disciplinary measures for 120 days. The vast majority of inmates do not have air-conditioning in their housing areas or elsewhere on the compound. Inmates do have access to educational programs, and inmates who complete classes appear to be more likely to get jobs upon release. When asked for one or two words to describe CO's to help determine the respondent's image of them, the answers were mostly positive and remarkably similar in all three surveys.