Gangs

In the
Prison
System
By
Donna Gibson
June 10, 2010

Prison gangs are becoming bigger by the day. Organized, strong and deadly, they are stretching from
the jail cells and are still controlling the crime that affects the streets of our neighborhoods.
Formed in the 1960's and 1970's in the California corrections system; they were originally formed by
inmates as a means to protect themselves from other groups and inmate predators. As time went on
and gang activity grew, more and more actual gang members were being arrested for murders, theft,
racketeering and trafficking drugs. When the new inmates got together they would form their gangs.

Prison gangs are known for their viciousness and violence and use this reputation to maintain power
and control over other inmates as well running and maintaining the activities on the outside.

Here is a small list of the well know Prison gangs and bio’s.

415 KUMI

In Folsom State Prison, along with the Crips and the Bloods, 415 KUMI members have recently provided
recruitment pools for the Black Guerilla Family (BGF), a gang with similarly large numbers in the Bay area and
Northern California. In the Monterey County Jail, brief alliances have been reported among the Bloods, Crips,
and KUMI 415 during period leading up to Stanley Tookie Williams' execution.
This gang has been reported as using prison guards to authorize violence against fellow inmates.
KUMI is the Swahili word for the number 10, and the sum of 415 is 10. 415 also refers to San Francisco's area
code.

Aryan Brotherhood

Formed in 1967 behind San Quentin state prison walls, they were formed from the Blue Bird Gang of
the 50s and 60s, being concerned with White-Supremacy and self-protection from other nationality
gangs. Initially formed for the protection of whites against blacks in prison, the gang gradually moved to
criminal activity. In prison, they strive to control the sale of drugs, gambling, and "punks," or male prostitutes.
The Aryan Brotherhood has carried out contract killings for the Mexican Mafia, but racist beliefs prevent
members from consorting with African Americans, including even taking a cigarette or a candy bar from them.

Bloods and Crips

Two of the most well known gangs in the United States.

Primarily Black Americans, these gangs operate in prisons and on the street nation-wide, Combined, they have
hundreds, if not thousands of members. They have set up chapters in Chicago, New York, New Jersey, Seattle-
Tacoma, and Little Rock, Arkansas.

The Bloods started in Los Angeles as a street gang in the 1960s; who had been allying with various other gangs
in the 1970s and becoming more powerful.
The Crips started as a street gang in Los Angeles when Raymond Washginton and Stanley Tookie Williams set
up the gang in 1969 in East LA. Stanley Tookie Williams was co-founder of the Crips when he was only 17
years old.

MS-13
 Formed in the early 1980s, fleeing the death squads in civil-war-plagued El Salvador; later settling in California,
a number of Salvadoran immigrants banded together and formed MS-13, or Mara Salvatrucha, as a self-defense
mechanism against rival Mexican gangs. The organization has about 30,000 members, 8,000 - 10,000 of which
exist in the US alone and is currently the largest gang in many states.

The list below is just the tip of the iceberg; there are hundreds of sects and sub-sects, world-wide.

Arizona Prison Gangs Dirty White Boys Neta Association

Aryan Circle Dixie Mafia New Mexico Syndicate
Barrio Azteca Hermanos Pistoleros Northern Structure
Black Guerilla Family Latinos Nuestra Familia
Border Brothers Jamiyyat UI Islam Is Sur 13 (Surenos)
Bulldog Nation Saheeh Tango Blast
Church of the new song Los Solidos Tri-City Bombers
Crips Mexikanemi Texas Mafia
Dead Man Inc. Nazi Low Riders Trinitarios

Prison Gang Philosophy

Loyalty is demanded in every aspect of the gang philosophy. Respect for the gang as a "nation" is
taught. The members look at the gang they are in as their life line, their only means of survival. They
would and will do anything for the gang and its other members. Because prison is a tight enclosed
environment, new inmates quickly search out jailed members and hook up with them as soon as possible
for protection and welcoming. The follow the same rules as they would if they were still in the streets,
nothing changes when they are in prison.

Prison Gang Intervention Services

To offer ways of walking away from a gang if a gang member feels the need to leave their
brotherhood. Some of the services offered would be schooling opportunities, whether it is getting a
diploma, GED, continuing education, or a degree. This way the soon-to-be ex member will receive a
decent education and something to fall back on when they are released.

Counseling would also be available. Some members may have PTSD from all the violence and horrific
situations they were a part of and may want to talk about this as a way of releasing stress and anxiety.
This would also include a step-by-step program of learning how to live life without being dependant
on a “Gang Family”.

If drugs are an issue there would be a detox program offered as well that would cater to the type of
drug they were on and help them to quit.

Depending on the level of the gang member and what kind of position he held or how much
information he knew, tattoo removal would also be an option in heavier cases. This would provide a
safe out for the individual if he wanted, providing he could, move away and make a new and fresh
start in life. Without the indentifying marks no one that is associated with that gang would recognize
that he once belonged in that same gang. Especially if word got out that he bailed and outside
members decided to end his gang affiliation permanently.

Prison Gang Prevention Services – and On-going follow-up care

I would have a Community Center that would offer on-going counseling for the inmates that have
been released recently, so they could continue what they had started while in prison. This would
include inviting family members to sit in on certain sessions so that they may be able to help the
inmate to continue living a gang free and or drug free life as well as supporting the decisions of the
inmate during this transition.

There would also be a an educational program for families in the area to help prevent children from
wanting to become a gang member in the first place.