The United States’ prison system is populated by several prison gangs. Prison gangs are organizations of prisoners that engage in criminal behavior and activities within the prison system complex. Prison gangs often create external extensions of their prison gang into street gangs that engage in criminal activities outside the U.S. penal system as a support apparatus.
Generally, a prison gang features characteristics that are shared among several prison gangs. Some of these commonalities are having an organized hierarchical structure or strict rules of conduct established by the gang for members to follow.
Another prominent feature of most prison gangs is that they are based on racial lines of exclusion and inclusion. Typically, these prison gangs are established along racial and ethnic lines as prisons are heavily segregated due to racial and social problems that can coalesce and be heightened within a prison system. While there is an abundance of prison gangs in the U.S. prison systems, a selected few stand out as major, being large and particularly important.
Ñeta
Ñeta is an international Puerto Rican prison and street gang. It was founded in the 1970s by Carlos Torrez Irriarte (also known as La Sombra, or the Shade and Maximum Leader) in Oso Blanco Maximum Security prison (located in Rio Piedras, San Juan, Puerto Rico) to fend off violence between unaffiliated prison members and prison gangs. It has also been called a prisoners’ rights group and inmates’ rights movement by members and has been known to project political ideas about Puerto Rican independence.
Ñeta is known to use the Puerto Rican national colors and Puerto Rican apparel to signify membership. In the United States, members predominately reside in the New York/New England area but are spreading to places such as Florida. Ñeta does not have known ties to any other large prison gangs. Law enforcement and departments of corrections have documented criminal illegal activities such as drug activity, violence, extortion, and murder. Ñeta members have also been known to be employed as hit men for other prison and street gangs.
Aryan Brotherhood (AB)
The AB was formed in the 1960s in San Quentin, a state prison in California. The AB uses strong White nationalist and neo-Nazi symbols to illustrate membership. For instance, they employ the use of swastikas, SS lightning bolts, and also 666. They also employ the use of Celtic or Irish cultural symbols. The AB requires a blood in, blood out oath from members, which stipulates that an initiate must kill or assault someone to enter the gang and can exit the gang only through death.
The AB is considered the oldest White supremacist prison gang in the United States and has chapters throughout the United States. It is primarily focused on criminal economic activities that are comparable to American organized crime. The AB has been involved in drug trafficking, extortion, murder, and murder for hire. It also has a standing alliance with the Mexican Mafia and a strong rivalry with the Black Guerrilla Family.
Black Guerrilla Family
The Black Guerrilla Family was also formed in the 1960s in the San Quentin state prison in California. Black Panther Party member George Jackson formed the prison gang as a radical revolutionary group that espoused Marxist political philosophy. It is also considered to be an antigovernment gang that advocates for the overthrow of the U.S. government and has had ties to the Black Liberation Army and the Symbionese Liberation Army. Its symbols feature the letters BGF, 276 (which represent the respective letters of the alphabet that symbolize BGF), a dragon surrounding a prison tower, and crossed sabers or guns. The Black Guerrilla Family requires a strict lifelong membership and has a strong rivalry with the AB as well as an alliance with Nuestra Familia.
Mexican Mafia
The Mexican Mafia, also known as La Eme, was formed by juvenile Hispanic prisoners in the late 1950s in the Deuel Vocational Institution in San Joaquin County, CA. Although the prison administration attempted to dismantle the Mexican Mafia by sending members to various other prisons such as San Quentin, this had the opposite intention: It empowered and facilitated the growth of the prison gang. The gang has a strict blood in, blood out code, and the number 13 is significant to members because the letter M is the 13th letter of the alphabet.
The Mexican Mafia is not only one of the most powerful prison gangs in California but across the United States. Its members engage in drug trafficking and extortion and maintain control within the prison system. They also maintain several connections to street gangs that support economic illegal ventures initiated by the Mexican Mafia. The Mexican Mafia has an alliance with the AB.
Prison Gang Issues
Departments of corrections and law enforcement agencies face several issues when dealing with prison gangs. Criminal activity and illegal capitalist enterprises are the chief activities of prison gangs as the primary purposes for their existence. These criminal activities are not only present within the confines of the prison complex system but also branch outside to the street level, connecting with street gangs as extensions of the criminal enterprise. One example is drug trafficking, whereby the street gangs take on the role of transporting and distributing narcotics, while the prison gangs act as the hub for information and activity for the street-level drug activity.
Law enforcement also faces difficulties identifying gang members and activity as most prison gang members are sworn to secrecy, use secrecy when facilitating illegal activity, and use cryptic codes and created and unfamiliar languages to communicate. Many law enforcement and corrections agencies use the term security threat groups rather than prison gangs in an effort to minimize the power and recognition that the term gang connotes in society. Such agencies are also aware of alliances and rivalries between various prison gangs and have to keep intelligence current in order to understand the interactions of prison gangs. This intelligence is used not only to curtail activity but also to prevent violence against prison gangs within prisons.
References:
- Federal Bureau of Investigation. (n.d.). (2011). National gang threat assessment—Emerging trends. Retrieved October 25, 2016, from https://www.fbi.gov/file-repository/stats-services-publications-2011-national-gang-threat-assessment-2011%20national%20gang%20threat%20assessment%20%20emerging%20trends.pdf/view
- U.S. Department of Justice, Organized Crime and Gang Section (OCGS). (May 11, 2015). Prison Gangs. Retrieved October 15, 2016, from https://www.justice.gov/criminal/criminal-vcrs/gallery/prison-gangs