International Journal on Criminology Volume 3, Number 2, Fall 2015 | Page 71

International Journal on Criminology
A May 2009 report 215 from the New Jersey Corrections Department revealed
that insufficient checks on street gang membership when hiring prison staff had
resulted in a system of corruption that allowed guards and visitors alike to bring
all manner goods and objects into prison, and in very large quantities. One guard
was found to have brought “incalculable” quantities of methamphetamines into the
institution where she worked.
In California, “dozens of employees in recent years have been dismissed and
arrested for their allegiance to gangs.” 216 In 2009, for example, the prison intelligence
services discovered that one prison guard was the wife of a member of the Mexican
Mafia.
In Brazil carrier pigeons were trained to bring drugs to PCC members in
Marilia prison, São Paulo state. An increase in drug seizures in the cells had alerted
the attention of staff who were mystified as to how the traffic was getting in.
At one of his trials, it was learned that Larry King Hoover, one of the main
leaders of the Gangster Disciples was managing one of the most successful cocaine
distribution “companies” in the United States from prison. According to Thomas Dart,
the President of the Commission in charge of prisons in the House of Representatives,
Hoover was far more effective working from his cell, with its guaranteed security, 217
than he ever was after his release.
This is not surprising. According to reports from the Illinois prison
administration, 218 referring to “highly placed” sources, “prison gangs have absolute
control over Stateville prison, and the guards are terrorized. If they dare to stop the
friends or family of gang members smuggling stuff in, the gangs produce photographs
of their homes, their wives, and their children.” 219
According to these same sources, Lawrence K. appeared on a hit list drawn up by
the Latin Kings 220 of thirty “bad” guards who were simply doing their job without giving
in to threats or letting their integrity be compromised; 221 they were therefore impeding
the gang’s activities. Lawrence K., thirty years of age, was therefore murdered shortly
after the appearance of a letter to staff threatening death if they refused to “facilitate”
the gang's business. Among the Latin Kings, this type of execution must be ordered or
215
Gangland Behind Bars: How and Why Organized Criminal Gangs Street Thrive in New Jersey's
Prisons and What Can be Done About it. State of New Jersey Commission of Investigation, May 2009.
216
California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Special Service Unit; telephone interview,
January 6, 2010. In Gangs Infiltrating Law Enforcement and Correctional Agencies, Intelligence Report,
National Gang Intelligence Center, January 15, 2010.
217
Hoover was once attacked by a homosexual named Nissan who wanted to humiliate him.
He managed to stab him two or three times before Hoover's bodyguards intervened. Knox, An
Introduction to Gangs.
218
Knox, An Introduction to Gangs.
219
Knox, An Introduction to Gangs.
220
Their “blacklist” of people to be eliminated.
221
“K. was the type of guard who came to work to do his job, he was young.” Knox, George W. Gang
profile: The Latin Kings. Peotone, IL: National Gang Crime Research Center, (Published on the
Internet), 2000.
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