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| Gang violence heats up in state prisons |
| By Associated Press |
| Published: 10/27/2003 |
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The notorious Bloods street gang has increased its activities in Connecticut's prisons over the past few months, a period that prison workers say has been marked by rising violence. Prison employees told The Hartford Courant that there have been numerous altercations involving the Bloods and the Latin Kings since late July. The Bloods formed in the prisons more than a year ago, but the gang has grown and become more active recently, the newspaper reported. A melee erupted in mid-August between the two gangs in the recreation yard of MacDougall Correctional Institution in Suffield. Dozens of inmates were involved, and one correction officer was injured trying to break it up. "It was a big incident," said Jon Pepe, president of AFSCME Local 391, which represents prison workers in the northern portion of the state. Also during the summer, members of the 20 Love gang and the Latin Kings fought at Northern Correctional Institution in Somers. There have been no serious injuries during any of the incidents involving the Bloods. Pepe said the gang has shattered the calm inside the prison system. He fears larger problems will develop, especially at times when prison security is understaffed. A recent review of prison staffing by the Legislative Program Review and Investigations Committee found the Department of Correction was about 18 percent short of projected staffing needs. It is not clear whether the Bloods in Connecticut's prisons are linked to the Los Angeles-based Bloods or the United Blood Nation, a group formed by inmates at Rikers Island in New York City in the early 1990s. The formation of the United Blood Nation by a group of African American gang members at Rikers resulted in a turf war between them and members of the Latin Kings and Netas, two dominant Latino gangs. The clashes led to a series of slashings of inmates and prison officers. The United Blood Nation, which is active in New York, New Jersey and surrounding states, has adopted the California gang's name and its violent rituals, such as slashing unsuspecting victims, according to published reports. Pepe said the perceived status of the Bloods as a powerful, national gang is what is attracting a growing number of inmates to the group. "They see the Bloods on TV, and movies about them. It seems prestigious," Pepe said. "If you're in prison, nothing changes. This is something new in their lives. It's interesting. If you join, you have a bigger sense of pride." Pepe said the Latin Kings and 20 Love interacted without incident in the prisons until the Bloods sprang up. Prison officials said they recognized the threat posed by the Bloods and classified them and the Crips, another gang, as "security risk groups" within the prison in May 2002. "We designated them in response to indications of their increasing presence and recruitment in our state in general and in our facilities," said Brian Garnett, a Correction Department spokesman. Garnett said there are fewer than 100 Bloods, which makes the gang smaller than the others in the prison system. There are roughly two dozen inmates identified as Crips. For security reasons, the department would not specify the number of individuals identified as being affiliated with major gangs. Garnett said officials in the agency's gang program and intelligence unit will continue to "monitor and proactively manage the gang issue." Inmates identified as gang members are segregated from the general prison population and put in a different portion of the prison. The most violent gang members and suspected gang leaders are segregated from members of their own gang. The department also gets gang members involved in rehabilitation programs. Thomas Mulhall, president of AFSCME local 1565, another prison workers' union, said before the presence of the Bloods, gang activity in the prison system was minimal. "It was like they were in hibernation," Mulhall said. Police in cities like Hartford say they have seen no evidence of Bloods operating on the streets. |
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