Exhibit aims to scare kids out of crime

An exhibition in Brownsville gives residents, especially young ones, a glimpse of life behind prison walls to encourage them to avoid a life of crime.
A former Rikers Island corrections officer is behind the uncensored setup on Belmont Avenue near Mother Gaston Boulevard.
Lorenzo Steele Jr., the former prison guard who worked at Rikers for 12 years, says he took the pictures himself to showcase the horrors of prison life.
There are graphic pictures of prison violence, some depicting bleeding slash wounds. Another image shows inmates storing a container of milk in their toilet to keep it cold.
He says that inmates have told him that serving time felt like living in a bird cage, and that he wants young people to reconsider criminal activity once they know what they might be getting into.
He also says that most inmates could not handle prison and chose to end their own lives.
A local mother suggests that the pictures be shown to her entire Brownsville community because too many children are dying.
Steele presents the images at churches, schools and community centers around the city.