GREENSBORO, N.C. -- There have been a lot of questions about what exactly happened once Freddie Gray was put inside the police transport van. He was mysteriously injured and died one week after his arrest.
Similar prisoner transport vans are being used here in the Triad and 2 Wants To Know got a look inside.
The Guilford County Sheriff's Office has 10 prisoner vans and each holds up to 11 prisoners. The vans have two cells so prisoners can be divided if need be.
Prisoners are handcuffed and have chains around their feet and stomach as they're lead onto the van.
"First thing we do, we're going to walk up. We're going to open the doors for our prisoner. We're going to open the cell door. We're also going to tell the inmate he can step on this step right here, we also tell them to watch their head right here when they're walking in because it's very low," explained Sergeant Andrew Paschal, Guilford County Sheriff's Office.
Step by step, Sergeant Andrew Paschal demonstrated the required way Guilford County Sheriff Deputies are to secure inmates in a prison transport van.
"Step in, when they get in the van, and seated, if the person is able to, they will put the seat-belt on themselves. If not, we'll actually come in the vehicle with them, and out the seat-belt on them," explained Sgt. Pashcal.
Sgt. Pashcal says the cell door is not closed until the inmates are secured. Even after the metal door is closed, deputies are aware when and if there's a problem.
"We actually have a camera on this door that points back in here to where you can actually see the inmate up front so we have access to watching a person in case we have any medical issues or anything going we can monitor that immediately."
Most of the time, there is only one deputy transporting the prisoners. They have help while loading and unloading the passengers. In Guilford County, prisoners are transported on a daily basis and each year, deputies travel more than 400,000 miles in these vans.
"Our primary goal is to keep the prisoner that we are transporting safe," said Sgt. Paschal. "That's our primary responsibility."
Most police departments in the Triad do not have these vans. GCSO will loan its vans to Greensboro Police Department, if requested.
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