Use of Force True / False Quick Quiz
November 18th, 2009
Every day, law enforcement and corrections officers face danger while carrying out their responsibilities. When dealing with a dangerous or unpredictable situation, law enforcement officers usually have very little time to assess that particular response to resistance and determine the proper response. In this training article good training can enable the officer to react properly to the threat or possible threat and respond with the appropriate tactics to address the situation, possibly including some level of force, if necessary, given the circumstances. Read more…
Depending on the agency size and department manpower you may or may not be working alone. The following are some keys to success that you can place into your mental toolbox that will assist you in making it through. Take everyday as a learning experience and allow your mistakes to be tools to your success. 
The history of the Gangster Disciples begins with Larry Hoover, who entered and rose through the ranks of the Chicago gang circuit in the 1960’s and took control of the gang in 1974 by leading a series of increasingly powerful alliances. He ended up running the gang from prison until he was transferred to a higher security wing in the 1990s. Hoover was born in Jackson, Mississippi on November, 30, 1950. He moved to Chicago with his family in 1955. At the age of 16, Hoover joined a gang of 50 older youths called the Supreme Gangsters. Hoover and his Supreme Gangsters hung around their neighborhood at the corner of 68th and Green Street in impoverished Englewood on the South Side of Chicago. Hoover was kicked out of high school on the first day of his sophomore year, in 1965, after being shot in the thigh by a rival gang member. 
We wanted to write an article on a topic that you might have thought that you never would read about in print. This article is going to discuss how and when to use deadly force in a correctional facility and most importantly how to defend your actions. Since most corrections officers are not trained or equipped with weapons designed to deliver deadly force the techniques we are going to discuss will need to be unconventional. The following information is the kind of stuff we talk about before roll call when we hear about an assault on an officer from the previous shift. This type of violent assault against a corrections officer could happen anywhere. It could even happen in your facility. These life threatening assaults could happen to a friend or someone who you went to the academy with or it could happen to you. Hopefully it’s doesn’t end up like the incident referenced below with an officer being killed. 
The Crips are a primarily, but not exclusively, African American gang founded in Los Angeles California in 1969 mainly by 16-year-old Raymond Washington and Stanley Tookie Williams III. What was once a single gang is now a loosely connected network of individual sets, often engaged in open warfare with one another. Through the years the gang has grown to be one of the largest and most powerful gangs in the United States, currently with over 30,000 gang members. The gang is known to be involved in murders, robberies, drug dealing, among many other criminal pursuits. The gang is notorious for its gang members’ flamboyant use of the color blue in their clothing. However, this practice has waned due to contentious police crackdowns on gang members. 
So how do we do it? Now, I am not a psychologist but the following is what I see as powers that officers use to maintain order over inmates everyday in their units. Maintaining a secure environment in prisons and jails often consists of an uneasy cooperation between the inmates and correctional officers. In addition, having a strong leadership structure supporting line officers results in a more effective and organized institution. Strong leadership in the administration can enable services to be dispensed to inmates, allow correctional facilities to be properly supervised, and minimize the level of violence within the institution. There are some factors that contribute to strong facility unit leadership. These include the officers having enough quality training and time on the job to fully understand the agency’s proposed policies and then implement those policies. Officers play a hands-on role within the institution and common practices that consider the officers’ needs are critically important. 
One doesn’t have to look far to find the destructive side of the mob mentality. In fact, your head would have to be buried in the sand to miss it. There have been Ku Klux Klan lynching’s, Soccer-stadium trampling, Woodstock II, and the L.A. riots. Clearly, mobs have great potential for doing harm especially within our institutions. This may be one of the best reasons for individuals to join a prison gang once they’re incarcerated. The first impression and vision of prison to most people is a scary mental picture establishing fear. Understand that most people in a state of fear tend to congregate together for protection and security, hence the prison gang. Think to yourself that you are the new inmate and you have stepped onto the yard for the first time. Where do you go? With whom do you align? You will congregate and align with individuals whom you feel are like yourself.