Click here to download the catalog as a PDF file. To view this site you need Adobe Flash Player and your browser must allow javaScripts. Go here to get the latest Flash Player. CorreCTIonS BEHIND THE FENCE. BRIAN DAWE here have been gangs in our prisons and jails for as long as there have been prisons and jails. It’s the natural result of confinement when groups vie for control of the limited commerce and contraband flowing inside a correctional facility. Self-protection has also been a major impetus in the formation of gangs behind the walls as was the case with the Aryan Brotherhood. The AB was founded in San Quentin Prison in California in 1967 in response to the formation of the Black Guerrilla Family, which began operations the previous year. The Mexican Mafia, Neta, Le Nuestra Familia and more recently the Assembly of Authentic Islam are just a few of the dozens of gangs that have their roots in correctional facilities. Prison GanGs: AN OVerVIeW t Indeed many of the most notorious and violent street gangs we now see across the nation had their beginnings in our nations prisons and jails. The gangs are not going away. As our facilities become more overcrowded and understaffed gangs will become more emboldened and will flex their internal muscles in new and more dangerous ways. Their reach goes beyond the walls and affects the safety of a The STaTS the public and the lives of Correctional Officers and staff who deal with them on a daily base. Once again we in corrections find ourselves placed in a position of having to do the impossible. Even when the threats stare us right in the face we are forced to be reactionary rather than proactive, the results shouldn’t surprise anyone ccording to the National Alliance of Gang Investigators as reported in the 2005 National Gang Threat Assessment, 11.7% of federal inmates, 13.4% of state inmates and 15.6% of county inmates were gang members. Over 325,000 inmates are now estimated to be gang members. It is reported that over 1/3 of all violent incidents in our prisons and jails are gang related. In recent years a disturbing trend has developed, we are now finding that the violence imposed against staff has gone beyond the walls and followed my profession into the streets. In 1996 in Shelby County, Tennessee, Jail Officer Deadrick Taylor was gunned down in front of his house and murdered in front of his family. Officer Taylor had placed a gang member on lock down status the day before. Because of this, a hit was ordered on Taylor and four members of the Traveling Vice Lords brutally followed out that order using an assault rifle (AK-47) and handguns. This is not a singular incident according to the 2005 report, “Latin King members are known for their control over correctional officers and routinely order hits on those who fail to cooperate with them.” The advent of private prisons has spurred even more gang activity as well. Private prisons will often put inmates from various jurisdictions in the same prison, sharing the same yard and housing units. Assaults, murders and riots have resulted from such policies. Inmates from Hawaii, when shipped to private prisons on the mainland, formed gangs to protect themselves when previously the Hawaii DOC reported limited gang involvement by these inmates. One of the biggest riots in private prison history took place in 2004 at the Crowley County Correctional Facility near Olney Springs, Colorado. Reports indicate one of the issues that sparked the violent outbreak and caused millions of dollars of damage came as a result of inmates from several states being thrown together. Nearly 200 inmates from Washington and over 100 from Wyoming were mixed in with 800 inmates from Colorado. Under the best of circumstances inmates don’t play well together. Add to the mix the anxiety of being hundreds of miles from home with little contact from family and friends, new rules, directives and inmates from various backgrounds and cultures and the results shouldn’t surprise anyone. The DOJ's GangTECC Web site is a wealth of information and powerful tool to help you fight gang violence. 16 G angs have become such a huge part of the prison culture most correctional agencies have their own internal gang units. These groups work with street officers to identify and coordinate efforts aimed at thwarting gang activity both on the streets and behind the walls. The federal government through the Office of the Attorney General WWW.AMERICANCOPMAGAZINE.COM • NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2009 Getting Organized Brian Dawe is the Executive Director for The American Correctional Officer (www.americanco.org) and the American Correctional Officers Intelligence Network (www.COIntel.net). He can be reached at ACOIN1@aol.com or by calling him at 307-883-9707.