Page 35 - Prison Gangs News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

>> thank you. >> we have to keep in mind, this is a small city. the inmates are the population of the small city, and correctional officers are the police force for that small city. >> a specialized group of officers is responsible for monitoring gang activity. this is the investigative services unit or isu. >> i've been spending a lot of time challenging isu to get out and take the lead. be the spear tip out there to challenge gangsters and tell them, you can't do that on our yard. >> we're tasked to cover anything that affects institutional activity, in-prison truck trafficking, responding t...

Responsible for up to 75% of all violent assault and drug trafficking within the prison system. pelican bay's mission is to break the stranglehold of prison gangs throughout the state. in california, most convicts who are affiliated with prison gangs or are suspected of being affiliated with prison gangs are banished to pelican bay. inside this world, racial labeling and profiling is a commonly accepted practice among inmates and officers alike. >> right now, california department of corrections recognizes seven different gangs as being prison gangs. no ester familia is known as nf. or the fam...

>> inmates are assigned points based on the severity of their crimes and propensity to inflict violence on other inmates and staff. pelican bay houses level four inmates, including some of the most violent offenders in the state's correctional system. >> pelican bay does have a high quantity of very assaultive inmates. due to our mission at pelican bay, we're tasked with housing the worst inmates in the state of california. >> we house inmates that had problems programming in other institutions. they have disciplinaries, staff assaults, inmate assaults, conspiracy to commit assault, drug traff...

Inside pelican bay is that some of its most isolated prisoners are also its most powerful. many gang leaders, though exiled to the shu, still manage to exert control over their legions of followers. >> they would not survive as a gang if they were unable to communicate with one another. or be able to communicate their will to their soldiers. >> the prison gangs, even though they're isolated and all up here, they are a force to be reckoned with within the institution. they have tentacles to reach out and do damage to whoever they want to get. >> so what they do is they find someone in the commu...

>> the information provided by former gang members, like inmate spiller, is used to identify and track high-ranking gang leaders inside the prison. it has also proved invaluable to law enforcement. >> they've actually solved homicides on the streets that they had no suspects on through the debrief process. >> debriefing is not enough to destroy the vise grip of prison gangs at corcoran. >> it's just one tool from breaking some of these gang members up from the gang. because for every one inmate that debriefs you have ten in line waiting to get into the gang. >> since our last visit here, offic...