Prison Gangs

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JakeStratham

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A few of you have spent time in prison. Some of you haven't yet, but will at some point in the future. This article will help to prepare you for the experience if you happen to do so in California...

http://www.theatlantic.com/features/archive/2014/09/how-gangs-took-over-prisons/379330/

The Atlantic regularly posts fascinating, in-depth articles. This one is no exception. You'll be left with memorable images and more than a few notable insights. Here are a few quotes to pique your curiosity:


The safest place for an inmate to store anything is in his rectum, and to keep the orifice supple and sized for the (contraband) phone, inmates have been known to whittle their bars of soap and tuck them away as a placeholder while their phones are in use. So a short and stubby bar means a durable old dumbphone; broad and flat means a BlackBerry or an iPhone. Pity the poor guy whose bar of soap is the size and shape of a Samsung Galaxy Note.
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But Skarbek says that at lights-out in some prisons, the leader of each gang will call out good night to his entire cellblock. The sole purpose of this exercise is for each gang leader to guarantee that his men will respect the night’s silence. If a white guy starts yelling and keeps everyone awake, the Aryan Brothers will discipline him to avoid having blacks or Hispanics attack one of their members.
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Nuestra Familia is particularly sophisticated, and, in a sure sign of bureaucratization, the gang even has an initialism for its new-arrival questionnaire: NAQ. “When you get put in your cell, and the door slams shut, you might get a fishline with a piece of paper on it,” Skarbek says. “And you’ll be expected to answer the questions in full.” The survey might include questions about your offense, your judge, and your relatives in other prisons. But it could also ask where you lived on the outside and what resources you have that could be valuable to the gang.
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The first Hispanic inmate to put his clothes on walks about 50 yards to a concrete picnic table, sits down, and waits. The first black inmate goes to a small workout area and stares out at the yard intently. A white guy walks directly to a third spot, closer to the basketball court. Another Hispanic claims another picnic table. Slowly it becomes obvious that they have been moving tactically: each has staked out a rallying point for his group and its affiliates.
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Note that prison gangs in California seem to prefer predictability, rather than thrive on chaos (as is often shown in movies and television shows). They police their members, both on the inside and out on the streets:


What’s astonishing to outsiders, Skarbek says, is that many aspects of gang politics that appear to be sources of unresolvable hatred immediately dissipate if they threaten the stability of prison society.

...

While I was there, Lieutenant Jeremy Frisk, the prison’s Institutional Gang Investigator, delivered a half-hour PowerPoint presentation focused on the managerial ingenuity of the gang leaders... Frisk said gang leaders are the Lee Iacoccas of the prison world: brilliant managers of violence.

...

If your name is on a BNL, gang members are to attack you on sight—perhaps because you stole from an affiliate on the outside, or because you failed to repay a drug debt, or because you’re suspected of ratting someone out. Skarbek says one sign that the BNL is a rationally deployed tool, rather than just a haphazard vengeance mechanism, is that gangs are fastidious about removing names from the list when debts are paid.
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If you're willing to invest 20 minutes to read the article, I'll bet you'll enjoy it. And if you don't have firsthand experience living in a California prison, then, like me, you'll learn a few interesting things along the way.


* I originally posted photos from the article (they're fascinating). But they broke the frame, so I dumped them.
 


People tend to over analyze things. Some guy fucking yells all night and if he has a celly and he doesn't shut him up you can expect him to get hit with a sock lock. I'll fucking do it. Fuck him. Although it may be organized, its just human nature, not really politics.

That prison is fairly lax. They let them outside? I spent 29 days in solitary(angry judge) then 3 months in lock down with a cry baby celly who beat his g/f before earning the right to see the sun.

If you are going to commit a crime, go all fucking out, because the deeper you get into the prison system the more freedom you have. Pictures, tv, a fucking chair? It slept under a fucking toilet with a paper thig blanket and had to wash my only pair of clothes in it(when they got unbearable). Those guys are in the fucking "hilton" as it would be called in prison.

I remember when I earned the right to have a pencil. The most amazing fucking feeling in the world. The feeling of the sun on your skin is a thing many people take for granted.

The "guards" are just kind of "their". They don't really mean anything. They don't do anything.
 
Never been in prison for the past 27 years of my life, hope I dont end one in the future

“There’s like 30 knives out there right now,” “Hidden up their rectums.” out of 50 people. Like a warzone every single day.


and this one, and the pic before this has computer/TV in their cells? that incentives.....

d37b0dbe5.jpg
 
There are prison gangs for whites, blacks and latins, but what about East Asians and Jews? Serious question.
 
What do you have to do to end up in one of these prisons? Like, if you're in a barfight and subsequently go to court and the judge says you're at fault.

Are you sent to jail or prison?
 
Looks like there's hope for MGrunin

The gay-and-transgender unit is safe and gang-free—so much so that prison officials have had to screen out straight Angelenos who play gay just to keep away from gangs.
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Fiver said:
What do you have to do to end up in one of these prisons? Like, if you're in a barfight and subsequently go to court and the judge says you're at fault.

Are you sent to jail or prison?
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Depends on the state laws. You could end up prison depending on what went on.

Generally if you are doing 1-2+ years you end up in prison (its disneyland compared to jail). That's why I say if you are gonna do it, go big.
 
rusvik said:
There are prison gangs for whites, blacks and latins, but what about East Asians and Jews? Serious question.
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Yes, could be at any given moment. Depends on how many there are and if you are in the same block and have the desire or need to form an alliance.

Generally, blocks are determined by score (your criminal record). It's counter productive for the CO's, but they aren't very bright in the first place.
 
Member8200 said:
Never been in prison for the past 27 years of my life, hope I dont end one in the future

“There’s like 30 knives out there right now,” “Hidden up their rectums.” out of 50 people. Like a warzone every single day.


and this one, and the pic before this has computer/TV in their cells? that incentives.....
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They are TVs- the casing is clear so they can't hide anything inside. That dude looked hard with all his tats, but he probably spends a couple hours in the daytime catching up on his stories.

If they put you in the hole, they would probably take you straight there, then get a couple COs to come to the old cell and bag up his stuff for 'storage'.
 
If people here go to jail for their business actions they are going to go federal. Federal is cake walk compared to County jail, or state prisons. The only up side to state offenses is you serve a fraction of your sentence. Federal gives you 15% off for good time (works out to be 13% because of the stupid way they calculate it) then you can get 1/2 way house time, but it is usually worse then the prison. If you have greater then a 2 years sentence you can also play the drug program card and get 9 months off. but they you are under supervision for 5 years.

I was only in a camp, but I was friends with guys that worked their way down from Penitentiaries (non violent, non sexual predators inmates, otherwise you can not go below a low). Mostly in a camp everyone is friendly but the Spanish hang with the Spanish and the blacks hang with the blacks. The white guys and Asians do likewise. Blacks control the kitchen, whites GED :) 2 years and I never saw a fight. Bunkie was a grad of Yale and then Harvard business school, former fortune 100 CEO, smartest man I ever met. Best friend was a former NJ correctional officer.

You read, work out, do a little job (taught GED and I also worked in the garden). Keep your head down, don't make enemies, don't be buddies with many. Look forward to weekend visits and count the days. It passes and life goes on.
 
I have 2 half brothers that both did time. One hung himself after getting sentenced to 30 years for killing someone. He was actually an intellectual, very smart, but a heroin addict at age 13.

The other was a gang banger but turned his shit around while in prison.
 
shindig said:
I have 2 half brothers that both did time. One hung himself after getting sentenced to 30 years for killing someone. He was actually an intellectual, very smart, but a heroin addict at age 13.

The other was a gang banger but turned his shit around while in prison.
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Fascinating stuff.
 
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