The signs show a man hit by a bolt of electricity, falling backward. "Danger. Peligro," they warn. "High Voltage, Keep Out. Alto Voltaje, No Entre."
It's no idle threat. A new electrified fence at Calipatria State Prison means instant death for any inmate trying to escape.A prisoner advocate said she was horrified by what amounts to an automatic death sentence. State officials contend it's no different from the old shoot-to-stop policy for tower guards - just more efficient.
"The fence doesn't get distracted, it doesn't look away for a moment and it doesn't get tired," said Warden K.W. Prunty.
"We already had a lethal perimeter," he said. "This is simply a way to keep that same level of security while saving money."
Calipatria, a maximum-security prison, opened nearly two years ago. It's set in the desert scrub near the Salton Sea, 35 miles north of the Mexican border. The Chocolate Mountains loom over prison grounds.
Guards threw the switch on the fence Nov. 8. It carries 4,000 volts and 650 milliamperes. About 70 milliamperes is enough to kill.
The $1.5 million fence stands 13 feet high, erected in a no-man's land between two 12-foot fences topped with razor wire so nobody touches it accidentally.
A special wire at the bottom prevents rats and other small animals from climbing up and dying.
The ring of fences is separated from the low, tan prison buildings and 3,900 inmates by a wide, empty strip of dirt.
As many as 20 other California maximum- and medium-security prisons will get electrified fences in the next few years as the state struggles to build more prisons on a tight budget.
Massachusetts, Indiana and Tennessee have used less sophisticated electrified fences for years, typically a high-voltage line atop prison walls.