Over my span of
25 valuable years, I learned several things when investigating a violent
incident and what dynamics take place before and after such a disturbance. Much
discussed on some agencies and barely conferred or spoken of by others, there
lies a wealth of viable information regarding gangs, drugs, weapons and other
dynamics that impact the overall security of the facility.
Some agencies
have developed special security units for such purposes and in the process of
doing so, they have alienated a valuable source of intelligence gathering
capabilities by omitting the role of the correctional officer in the task of
gathering information within the prison population. This source is a human
resource called the correctional officer who works the line and does shift work
as well as various posts throughout the facility.
In my time,
these special units relied on most information coming from the line staff who
had their own sources on the yards and managed inmate behaviors according to
the manner these sources provided viable and accurate information. This was
commonly known as the “snitch system” and often condemned by the administration
who ironically, use a very similar system but tag it to be different than the
informant banks on the yards.
As a combination
of good searches, questioning and a little bit of luck brings vital information
by either coincidence or design, karma has a way of creating good police work
by correctional officers to reveal security breaches, drug buys or identifying
mules, sanctioned hit lists and many other vital information that keeps the
place safe and secure if a proactive plan can be initiate to offset the
prisoner’s plan for disruption, introduction or in many cases, an assault or
other criminal activity.
Needless to
say, these channels are required to be maintained open and active at all times
to gather sufficient data to ensure a pulse on the yard of concern. Such
channels exist for the reasons of obtaining and deciphering information that
may lead to somewhere or nowhere depending on the reliability of the source.
Today, this
channel of communication has been severely impaired as the information
gathering duties have been taken away from the line officer and exclusively
assigned to special security units or security threat group officers
investigating gangs and other security concerns.
In addition,
the focus today appears to be on radicalization of prisoners converting to
terrorism and organized crime outlets within prison as they are all connected
to the community by someone incarcerated calling the shots or providing the
resources to make things happen.
The network of
cops related to radicalization of prisoners is intensely growing as the
function of gathering information on drugs, weapons and contraband has been
rapidly declining, creating unsettling essential dynamics becoming unidentified
and resulting in unexpected surprises of disturbances, assaults and mass drug
introductions or cell phones.
Since the
queries are now directed to radicalization and terrorist intelligence, this
internal priority is now secondary [which was once primary intelligence] is
suffering badly and needs to be restored.
To make a long
story short, there needs to be an active plan to re-instate the line officer in
the role of gathering intelligence on institutional needs as well as
operational concerns in the area of gang activity, drug control, and violence
and escape potential or planning.
Today, correctional
officer rank and file has been breached by outsiders hired to work for the
cartel or other disruptive groups as well as street gangs working for the drug
connections. Because of this flaw, the reinstatement of Intel gathering must be
done discreetly and with selected personnel trained and experienced to gather
these needs.
Correctional
personnel can be valuable in gathering intelligence and sharing that
intelligence with other criminal justice and intelligence agencies but they can
be equally effective to work and gain insights on yard dynamics, shot callers
and the drug trade. They could serve as worthy and reliable sources to:
- · Discover trafficking techniques
- · The names and role of prisoners involved in the criminal activity
- · Reveal identifying characteristics according to gang, race, ethnicity, associations etc.
- · Observation of visitors and associations inside the visiting room as well as sharing rides
- · Watching video monitors closely to detect smuggling or transfer of codes or papers
- · Listen to conversations and recordings of suspected individuals involved.
To be
successful against institutional security breaches and detect potential acts of
violence or disturbances e.g. riots, work stoppage etc. correctional agencies
must learn to work more closely with everyone assigned who may contribute to
the overall product of gathering intelligence on the various yards. Intelligence
has no boundaries, no limits and no territorial spats thus it is important we
use and have available, all the human resources and technology we have at our
disposal on every shift we work.
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