BARS BEHIND BARS: RAP VIDEO FILMED IN MICHIGAN JAIL SPARKS INVESTIGATION

Michigan State Police have started an investigation after a rap video shot in a Michigan State Prison cell surfaced online.

Michigan Department of Corrections Spokesperson Chris Gautz said the video was shot inside Macomb Correctional Facility and two prisoners featured in it have been identified and placed in segregation. The videos include shots of corrections officers in the corridor and show a prisoner sitting on a bunk talking on a cell phone.

“It’s incredibly dangerous” to have phones inside state prisons, “especially with capability of getting onto the internet,” Gautz said because they can be used to arrange escapes, harass witnesses, or place “hits” on people inside or outside the prison, he said.

Following the news of the surfaced videos, the then warden at Macomb, George Stephenson, had been placed on “stop order,” meaning he was barred from entering the prison pending an undisclosed investigation. Gautz said Stephenson had not been fired, and there was no police investigation related to Stephenson. “Due to it being a personnel issue and an ongoing internal investigation I cannot get into what potential work rules there are or what it is related to,” he said.