Violent, underage felons are put through Colorado's gruelling Youthful Offender System to break down their criminal habits and gang mentalities, preparing them for reintegration into society.

In the Alaskan outback, alcohol abuse is devastating communities and sending crime rates through the roof. Enforcing the law in this vast and nearly road-less region presents extreme challenges for Alaska bush troopers.

Half of Colorado's sex offenders are housed in Fremont Correctional Facility. Fremont faces the challenge of protecting these potential victims and readying them for life in a society that shuns them.

Violent, underage felons are put through Colorado's gruelling Youthful Offender System to break down their criminal habits and gang mentalities, preparing them for reintegration into society.

Life inside Stateville Correctional Center in Joliet, Ill., one of the country's most dangerous maximum-security prisons, is examined

In the Alaskan outback, alcohol abuse is devastating communities and sending crime rates through the roof. Enforcing the law in this vast and nearly road-less region presents extreme challenges for Alaska bush troopers.

Forget Midwestern hospitality at the St Louis County Jail. Built in 1998 and rededicated in 2004, this downtown facility processes over 30,000 arrestees each year. From drunk drivers and drug dealers to petty thieves and killers, they all pass through this municipal high-rise on their way to facing a judge. For the officers on the ground, that means seeing approximately 600 people every week - many of whom are inebriated and angry when they first arrive. Jail is the last place they want to be and they are not shy about sharing that information - at the top of their voices! Some of them even try to confront the officers. That's a mistake they'll soon regret. Still, these angry and often difficult prisoners must be booked, interviewed, strip-searched and processed. Some are middle class, some are poor, some are thugs and some appear to be crazy. Yet they're all held together in an open central booking area until they are assigned a cell. It forces the officers to constantly be on alert, since anything can happen at any time. It's highly dangerous, as officers will tell us, especially without the help of shackles and bars. All hope to go free soon but, for many, that's just an illusion. Meanwhile, they'll have to make their way through County Jail without getting hurt or hurting anybody else - inmate or officer. Find out how tough it is to do time in America's heartland in Lockdown: St Louis County Jail.

Nuevo Laredo lies just a few miles south of the US-Mexico border, across the Rio Grande from Laredo, Texas. It's a major hot spot in the drug war - a border town known for its chilling violence and rampant corruption. And it's the perfect home for a notorious Mexican prison known as Cedes. Like other Mexican prisons, Cedes has earned a frightening reputation for violence over the years. In 2005, two American brothers jailed on homicide charges were found stabbed to death in their cells. Only a month before that, a gang shootout erupted on a basketball court, leaving one inmate dead and several others injured. The next day, two other inmates were stabbed to death and one was shot, caught in a barrage of 30 bullets. Guards later recovered six pistols and an AK-47 in inmate cells. Many of the inmates here are members of drug cartels and gangs like the Mexican Mafia. They are segregated from other prisoners yet their influence is felt throughout the prison. At Cedes, nobody ever talks 'politics' or about violence behind bars. To do so would be to risk reprisals. A substantial number of prisoners here have served time in both American and Mexican prisons and many prefer life at Cedes, largely because of the astonishing amount of freedom they are given. The visitation policy is also unlike anything found in the United States. Inmates can meet with their loved ones in an open picnic area from 9am to 5pm, six days a week. In some cases conjugal visits are allowed in special private rooms. Officers believe that these perks reduce tensions inside the prison and ease the prisoners' transition to the outside world. But as we'll learn from the warden and officers, along with these freedoms comes constant danger. The threat of serious violence is present every second of every day. And as we'll find out first-hand, keeping Cedes under control, even on a good day, is no easy task.