Reality shows have long sent contestants to remote islands or quarantined houses, but a new series is taking it a step further — by putting them in jail.
A&E is premiering a new reality show that sends seven innocent civilians to pose as prisoners to expose what life is really like behind bars.
In “60 Days In, ” the participants will spend two months living among the 500-member general population at Clark County Jail in Jeffersonville, Ind., which houses prisoners charged with offenses from drug dealing to capital murder.
None of the fellow inmates or officers know that the “prisoners” haven’t been charged with a crime. Instead, the series was filmed by hundreds of cameras placed throughout the jail, arranged with the help of Sheriff Jamey Noel.
“After recently taking office, it was no secret that the Clark County Jail had problems and we needed to take quick control. The only way to truly understand what was going on in the jail was to implement innocent participants into the system to provide first-hand unbiased intelligence,” Noel said in a statement. “These brave volunteers helped us identify critical issues within our system that undercover officers would not have been able to find.”
The participants — who range from a social worker to a military wife — received training prior to being locked up to help them prepare for the experience.
The 12-episode series premieres March 10 on A&E.