The Real Cost of Prisons Weblog

The growing gang activity across North Carolina is sending more gang members to the state's prisons. The Governor's Crime Commission concluded last year that about 390 gangs operate in the state, with more than 8,500 members. Durham and Raleigh are among several cities and towns that have seen rapid growth in gangs.

"We want to help them think in a different manner, help them resolve a potentially dangerous situation without resorting to violence and hopefully give them the skills to help them renounce their gang identification," said Bob Lewis, the Correction Department's assistant director of support services.

The department wants to open the 192-bed unit at Foothills Correctional Institution in Western North Carolina sometime this summer. It has received a $770,000 federal grant to train staff and complete renovations, such as adding a recreation yard and expanding certain areas. After two years, the state will have to assume the program's expense.

Some inmates are known gang members when they enter prison; others' affiliation becomes known after their convictions; still others are recruited behind bars.

Gangs bring particular problems for prison staff members and other inmates. Sometimes, inmates are required to assault other inmates or staff as part of their initiation. The gangs also intimidate other inmates, and they are often involved with drugs and other contraband being smuggled into prisons.

Lewis said the rising numbers of gang members in prison have not led to gang fights or rampant violence, but with nearly 500 identified gang members behind bars, the department sees trouble on the horizon if it does not act now. There are about 35,000 inmates in the prison system.

In North Carolina prisons last year, inmates attacked staffers 552 times and attacked other inmates 165 times. Inmates used weapons in 74 attacks on staffers and other inmates. Prison officials said they confirmed that 11 assaults were gang-related.

Several states have separate units for gang members. The first state to establish such a unit was Connecticut, 10 years ago. Prison violence in general has dropped by roughly 80 percent in that time, Connecticut officials say. The state has segregated male, female and youth gang members in special units.

"We had a lot of gang hits, a lot of gang assaults, and we had to realize that the gangs in Connecticut were running our prisons," said Capt. Armando Valeriano, the Connecticut prison system's security risk group coordinator.

Segregating gang members had an immediate impact, Valeriano said. Many inmates changed their behavior to avoid being transferred.

Those who didn't found themselves in a six-month program that teaches them how to serve their time with the least amount of trouble. The anger management part of the program is called "Cage Your Rage."

You don't get out if you don't pass the program, Valeriano said. So far, less than 5 percent of those who complete the program come back, he said.

New Jersey began segregating gang members in 1998, and since then assaults on staff have dropped 50 percent. North Carolina officials have visited both states' programs.

North Carolina's program will last at least nine months. Those who do not pass will stay until they do, unless they've completed their sentence, Lewis said. If they get in trouble back out on the street, they'll likely be returned to the unit when they go back to prison.

"If you don't shape up, you could stay there for a long, long time," he said.

They will continue to have the same privileges as other inmates in close custody, such as visitation and access to a telephone.

North Carolina prison officials began noticing gang members among the inmate population in 1996. Members of the Five Percenters gang were the first to draw prison officials' attention. Today, there are at least four gangs with members in prison. Lewis said prison officials have identified 471 gang members, with nearly half of them belonging to the United Blood Nation.

United Blood Nation, the Five Percenters and the Crips predominately draw African-American inmates, while the Folk Nation is composed mostly of white inmates, Lewis said.

Some of those gang members who have stayed out of trouble will be allowed to remain in their respective prisons, Lewis said.

Those who face transfer to the gang unit will be given the opportunity to appeal the decision in a prison hearing, Lewis said. But they will have to convince prison officials that they have not been involved in gang activity.

Michael Hamden, executive director of N.C. Prisoner Legal Services, said there have been cases when prison officials have incorrectly classified inmates as gang members. He said he wants to make sure they are correct before sending inmates off to a unit filled with gang members.

Lewis would not explain publicly how prison officials identify gang members. That, he said, would kill the unit in its tracks.

"The first thing that I say that we look for in terms of attempting to validate these guys -- we can throw it out the window because they will get rid of it," Lewis said. Staff writer Dan Kane can be reached at 829-4861 or dkane@newsobserver.com.
http://www.newsobserver.com/news/story/2045908p-8430412c.html