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Prison gangs
Prison gangs and the role they play in prison security
Prison gangs and the role they play in prison security
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Prison Gangs Black Guerrilla Family Black Guerrilla Family is one common gang in prisons. It was founded by George Jackson in 1966 in California. Its goals are to eradicate racism, and struggle to maintain dignity in prison. The family has a very strict death oath. The members must get a tattoo of different versions of a dragon surrounding a prison tower and holding an officer in its clutches. All the members are black. It also experienced a declined membership in the 1990’s, but it recently gained power due to other gang alignment.
Mexican Mafia Mexican Mafia is one of the oldest and most powerful prison gangs in the U.S. This gang was formed in the late 1950’s. It is known for drug trafficking, extortion, and murder. The gang also uses the number 13 as a gang identification. The 13th letter in the alphabet is the letter “M”… a coincidence, right? Members are responsible for 10% of the cities homicide rate. According to the gang’s constitution, members may be murdered.
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They have 15,000 member is inside and outside of prison. The gang was whites against blacks, but gradually became a criminal enterprise. Even the members don’t consider themselves safe. The only way to be a member is to abide by “Blood in Blood out”. That philosophy is the only way to make a member abide by the mission. In prison, they are one of the top gangs to make sure their gangs survive, even with prostitution, drugs, and murders. The only way you can get out of the gang, is to die. There is no way around it at all. Even if you are out of prison, if they hear that you are leaving the gang, they will call a drive-by out for you and kill you… maybe even your family. This gang makes up approximately 1% of the prison population nationwide, and are responsible for 18% of murders in the federal prison
These members that follow the rules blindly are subjected to loyalty. The consequences are grim if a member doesn’t obey the rules. In the documentary the reporter interviewed former members of MS 13. There is no hope for a former MS 13 member. “There’s no way out” states a previous MS 13 member “but either by hospital, jail, or death.” They’re jails strictly filled with all MS 13 members. If you’re a refugee to MS 13 jail is your safe haven. Many men who leave the organization flee to jails to seek protection. Because if they were on the streets they would end up dead. If you leave MS 13 there’s a target on your back. Once you’re in MS 13 you’re committed for life. No exceptions. No excuses. If you want out of the gang that is a sign of being disloyal. If you leave not only are you in serious danger, but your family are now at risk as well. The ultimate penalty of disloyalty is to be killed. That’s why many men who leave the gang go to jail for protection. The only correct answer in MS 13 rule book is to live your whole life solely devoted to the gang. These types of rules foster fear of leaving and that’s why a lot of members continue the path they’re on so that they can protect there family. The leaders of MS 13 make up the rules and their followers are required to follow them because there is no other option. When it comes to a right and wrong decision the leaders make the final decision. There’s only one
The Ñeta Prison Gang or “Asocacion Ñeta” originated in Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico during the early 1970’s. The gang received its name from their Taino origins; when a baby was born, the parents would hold the baby up and scream “Ñeta.” The founder of the gang was Carlos Irriarte who was given the nickname The Shadow, or “La Sombra”. The gang erupted when a group of offenders wanted to stand up and defend inmate rights and call attention to the abuses they experienced by some of the other prisoners and guards. The gang also banded together in order to battle with another gang who called themselves “G’27’s” or “Los Insectos.” The Ñeta gang evolved from a maximum-security prison called “Oso Blanco.” The Ñeta gang’s leader, Irriarte, was later killed in March of 1981 after he was betrayed by the leader of the G’27’s, a fellow gang member, and a guard who was in on the plan; he was stabbed and shot. Since many of the gangs were in the drug trafficking business, his death led to a series of prison riots that ended up with the stealing of narcotics in the pharmacy. In order to seek revenge for their leader’s death, the Ñeta Gang chiseled a tunnel that eventually led straight to the cell of “Manota”, the G’27’s leader, and stabbed him repeatedly before they cut his body into 84 pieces. Although this was an obvious sign of dominance within the prison, it was also a call for attention.
The MS13 is a perfect example of a counterculture. They are a world within themselves. The gang is very organized and structured; there is hierarchy with the gang. There is a significant amount of money flow within the gang. A few ways the gang obtains money is by drug dealing, illegal weapons, vendors pay the gang to work in their territories and for their protection, and drug dealers also pay the gang to earn the right to sell drugs in their territories. There are laws and rules that a gang member must abide by. One very strict rule for a gang member is silence. If a gang member becomes informant and it is found out that they are, it will more than likely result in death for the informant. The breaking of laws and rules are punishable, even by death. They have a law system and law enforcement of their own. Check courting is a punishment served by the gang to gang members who break the laws of the gang. There are initiations one must endure to become a member of the gang. Jumping in is one of the initiations, a brutal thirteen second beating by multiple people at the same time. (World’s Most Dangerous Gang) There is a communication system within the gang. They use stacking to communicate, tattoos, graffiti, and an overall dialect that is unique to the gang. This counterculture exists internationally inside and outside of prison walls. Within the gang there are individual cliques, but when threatened they will come together and fight alongside one another. It is instilled in a gang member to kill to maintain territory and to acquire new territories. T...
They are a national gang. Of course, the gang is not as big here as where it originated in California. However, it is considered to be one of the largest gangs in the United States. That I do remember from gang class. Also, to be accepted into the gang, one must take a beating from members. This gang is known for violence and they do not hesitate to use extreme actions when protecting their turf against rivals or the police. They are big with the selling and distribution of crack cocaine, PCP along with other drugs. Other activities would be armed robberies, auto theft, assault and murder (Cruz, 2015).
South, David. The History of Organized Crime: Secrets of The World’s Most Notorious Gangs. New York: Metro Books, 2013. Print.
A gang is an organized group with a recognized leader whose activities are either criminal or, at the very least, threatening to the community. (Walker, 2011) Throughout history there have been some infamous gangs that have gotten media attention and others that have gone under the radar. One of the more underground gang structures are prison gangs. The Nuestra Familia may not be in the news as much anymore compared to other gangs, but they are nothing to be taken lightly. Prison gangs have been around since the late 20th century and only seem to be getting stronger if nothing is going to be done to prevent them. Gangs in prison have members in and out of prison. One of the more popular gangs that has been gaining steam recently is the mainly Hispanic gang La Nuestra Familia. The purpose of this paper is to write about the history of the NF, the structure in which it operates, and some good preventative tactics that could prevent prison gangs from becoming stronger.
Established in the 1960s by a former Black Panther member in a California prison. By far The Black Guerrilla Family is the most politically oriented gang prison. They formed to dissipate racism while maintain their dignity, and overthrow the government. They are a very strict gang if you have broken their pledge you will be killed on-site. A symbol to show how you are part of their gang is a BGF initial tattoo. They are different from other gangs because they aren’t concerned about money, drugs, and power. With their anti-government and anti-official beliefs being their main concern they have become a huge threat to the prison system and staff. Because they want to overthrow the system and take control of prisons in
The Aryan Brotherhood started in 1964 was founded by Tyler Bingham and Barry Mills who were white supremacists and Irish American bikers. It started at the San Quentin state prison. The prison group was created to protect white prisoners from the black inmates. The cause changed into revenue when the group gained power. This gang is the most violent white supremacists group, and over one hundred murders have been attributed to this gang during its existence. The gang has been listed for assaults and brutal murders on police officials. It is one of the largest prison gangs in United States with branches in Nevada, California, Arizona, Texas, New Mexico, Arkansas, Florida, Missouri, Georgia, Mississippi, Colorado, Kansas, and Ohio. It has formed an alliance with the Mexico Mafia. The Aryan Brothers have around 30,000 members. The prison gang has a structure of presidents, vice presidents, majors, captains and lieutenants. It has a committee of members of a council that govern its branches across the United States. Its official symbol is a three-leaf clover. In order to join the gang one has to assault or kill another prisoner, and if one tries to leave the gang he is killed by the members. This gang is known for extortion, organized crime, drug trafficking, inmate prostitution and murder. They live by the motto ‘in for life and out by death’. They strongly believe ...
Street Gangs are becoming popular in many cities across the country. According to the Department of Justice's 2005 National Gang Threat Assessment, there are at least 21,500 gangs and more than 731,000 active gang members (Grabianowski). Gangs bring fear and violence to neighborhoods, drugs, destroy property, involve youth in crimes and drive out businesses. When you have gangs in a community, it affects everyone in the community. An alarming amount of young adults are joining gangs and becoming involved in illegal activity. Most gangs have a rule that when you join the gang you are a member of the gang for life. Gangs can be removed from our communities with more community involvement and education.
This book was about a street gang called the Mighty Vice Lords. They were the second largest gang in Chicago with about 30,000 members. The Vice Lords started in the Illinois Training center (Juvenile Correctional Facility) for boys in St. Charles Illinois during 1958 and was led by Edward “Pepalo” Perry and Alfonso Alfred. This group was known to be brutal and violent. It discussed how a violent gang can become a community organization and change the way things were done for the betterment of the community. This information is important because it showed that gangs can become a positive force.
Franco, C., (2007, May). The MS-13 and 18th street gangs:Emerging transnational gang threats, Retrieved from http://opencrs.com/document/RL34233/2007-11-02/download/1006/.
Our team presentation focused on three Latino gangs, MS-13 (Mara Salvatrucha), the Mexican Mafia and the Los Surenos gang. My part of the presentation was to provide information on the type of crime these three gangs are known to commit. The crimes committed by the MS-13 gang are varied, violent, and take place all over the country. The FBI even put together a task force called the MS-13 National Gang Task Force in December of 2004 to try to put a stop to this gang’s activities. (www.fbi.gov). Los Surenos or Sur-13, originally based in Los Angeles, has also branched out from turf wars with rival gangs to “for profit”, violent crimes across the country. The Mexican Mafia has a similar story to tell as well in regards to gang crimes, which again range from respect crimes, and retaliatory violence to crimes for profit.
Peter Maas declares organized crime the “biggest business in the country” (Maas). “The largest and best known organized crime group is the nationwide organization variously known as the ‘syndicate’, the ‘mob’, the ‘Mafia’, and the ‘Cosa Nostra’” (Nash, Jason O-155). Some activities of the Mafia include gambling, loan sharking, pornography, illicit drugs, and racketeering. The Mafia began in Sicily, but did not retain to just that one location. In fact, in the late nineteenth century many of the Sicilian members immigrated to the United States (Nash O-155). The Mafia in the United States contains members that are Americans with Sicilian ancestry (“Mafia” M-48). There are several Mafia groups in the United States. Law enforcement authorities agree that there are around twenty-five groups that operate in large cities across the nation (Nash O-155).
Hallswort, S. And Young, T. (2004) Getting Real About Gang. Criminal Justice Matters [online]. 55. (1), pp 12-13 [Accessed 10 December 2013]
Many stereotypes of gangs have been fabricated. The problem is that a majority of gang members do not fit these stereotypes, which, in turn, makes it hard for the to be caught (Klein). Traditionally they organize their group around a specific neighborhood, school or housing projec...