NCJ Number
191598
Date Published
2001
Length
3 pages
Annotation
This document profiles prison gangs that flourish across the country.
Abstract
Prison gangs are organized, stealthy, and deadly. In 1996, the Federal Bureau of Prisons found that prison disturbances soared by about 400 percent in the early nineties, which indicated that gangs were becoming more active. Street gangs, as opposed to gangs originating in prisons, are emerging as a larger problem on the East Coast. State prisons are not infested with gangs, but those that have set up shop are highly organized. They have a paramilitary type structure. A majority of the people that are imprisoned have had experience with street-gang membership and have been brought up in that environment accepting it as the norm. Some join for survival in prison. As some are being released into the community on parole, they are becoming involved in actions related to prison-gang business. Gang leaders communicate orders through letters. Where mail is monitored they may use a code. They use visits, put messages into their artwork, and in some States they use the telephone. Of the two kinds of gangs, prison gangs and street gangs, the prison gangs are better organized. They monitor members and dictate how they behave and treat each other. A serious violation means death. Street gangs are coming out of prison more sophisticated and more dangerous because they are not as easily detected. They also network and keep track of who is out of prison. Prison gangs were formed for protection against predatory inmates, but racketeering, black markets, and racism became factors. Because prison authorities monitor gangs, the law enforcement community is becoming very sophisticated about the gangs. Prison officials say they concentrate on inmate behavior to identify gang members. They do not single out gang leaders to strike any deals because acknowledging the gang as anything other than a “security threat group” gives them too much credibility. The system needs to hire more staff and increase the professionalism of that staff with pay raises and training.