SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — Some of the gangs South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley listed as tied to violence at the men’s prison in Sioux Falls have the largest gang presence in prisons around the U.S., according to National Gang Crime Research Center (NGCRC)
Jackley on Tuesday listed nine gangs tied to recent prison riots and violence. Of those, the Bloods, Crips, Gangster Disciples and Vice Lords are among the top gangs represented in prison, according to a 2020 survey by the NGCRC.
According to the NGCRC, the five largest gangs nationwide are the Gangster Disciples, Bloods, Crips, Aryan Brotherhood, Vice Lords. “These are gangs that have dominated prison life for decades,” the center’s survey report said.
The gangs listed by Jackley are also in Sioux Falls, said Sioux Falls Police Sgt. Pete Blankenfeld of the department’s violent crime unit. Blankenfeld has been a police officer for 15 years and has been on the violent crime unit for 18 months.
“Some (gang members) are involved in criminal activity. Some are not,” Blankenfeld said of the gangs in Sioux Falls.
Gangs “are involved in various crimes,” Blankenfeld said. But, not all violent crime is gang-related, he said.
Thirty of the 40 inmates involved in a May 27 “prison riot” at the Jameson Annex in Sioux Falls have ties to gangs, Jackley said. The crimes include simple assault to aggravated assault and rioting.
Who are the gangs?
The Boyz, Red Brotherhood, Gangster Disciples, Bloods, Crips, North Side Mafia Gang, Warlords, East River Skins and Vice Lords.
Gangster Disciples formed in 1974, according to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). The gang is based in Chicago and by the mid-1990s, it had spread to at least 35 other states.
The Bloods formed in the early 1970s in Los Angeles for protection against a larger
more domineering gang, the Crips, according to a 2003 report by the Virginia State Police.
The Crips gang is believed to have started in 1969 in California, according to the DOJ. Britannica said the origins are disputed with one story that it started in 1971 as a way to offer protection from other street gangs. The other story is the gang started in 1969 as a political group that evolved into a street gang.
The Vice Lords started in the 1950s, according to the DOJ. It started as an organization that mobilized for civil rights activities and by owning and operating legitimate drug businesses, according to the DOJ.
Jackley also named the Warlords as an active prison game. Information on this group is scant but a Chicago Gang History website said a group called the Warlords was formed in the city in 1964. The gang was tied to the Latin Kings and became its own gang.
Several media reports from 2007 and 2008 in South Dakota and Montana said the East River Skins were tied to the Nuestra Familia and had ties to tribal lands in those states.
The Boyz and Red Brotherhood could be associated with gangs of similar names. Blankenfield said in his experience, The Boyz and Red Brotherhood are associated Native American groups, although non-Natives can be members.
How do gangs operate in prison?
According to research from EBSCO, a national research site for academics and other researchers, prison gangs were largely created to protect inmates. Prison gangs essentially started in the 1950s but evolved over the years to include criminal activity, according to EBSCO.
The main intent of gangs now is to profit from criminal activities such as drug trafficking, sex work, gambling, extortion, and contract killings, according to EBSCO. Gangs are responsible for most of the serious misconduct in prisons such as intimidation, rape, drug trafficking, assault, and murder. EBSCO
The NGCRC said in a 2020 survey report that in 2000 it gathered data on more than 4,000 inmate gang members. The results shows the gang members were a more significant disciplinary problem and more of a general threat than non-gang members.
A 1984 study shared by the DOJ said, “Some prison gang problems identified are drug trafficking, intimidation of nongang inmates, strong-arm extortion, violence, conflicts between gangs, and contracted inmate murders.”
Gang members in prison can take advantage of an overcrowded and understaffed facility where it is difficult to watch all inmates all day long on each day.
And based on the numbers, there can be many gang members to watch, depending on the facility.
Based on research data, upwards to 20% of the U.S. prison population belongs to a gang. Still that’s fewer than one-fourth of all the inmates in prison, (200,000 of 1.5 million: in 2108), according to the National Institute of Justice.
How old are gang members?
Although court documents do not specify if those arrested and charged with the May 27 crimes at the state prison are gang members, some of those arrested are as young as 20 and 22.
Blankenfield said gang members in Sioux Falls can be as young as 14 or 15. The age range runs from teens to much older, he said. “There is no specific age range,” Blankenfeld said of gang affiliation.
Many of the gang members in prison did not join in prison because they were already in gangs.
Blankenfeld said in his work he’s encountered gang members who served time in prison and when released, they continued in the gang.
But, he’s not encountered instances where a prison gang member directed or was involved in a crime outside the prison.
How do prisons control gangs?
The National Institute of Justice (NIJ) shares data that said “Gangs are responsible for a disproportionate amount of prison misconduct and violence, and their presence and actions challenge ongoing efforts to maintain control, order and safety in prison.”
Still, other research also shows that in some cases, gangs provide their own type of control in a prison. Gang members monitor themselves and maintain order in the gang. But, the monitoring and maintaining order typically applies to the gang members and in short, it be unsafe or potentially hazardous to others, studies also show.
“Most researchers contend that a major reason prison gangs are permitted to exist in correctional institutions is because they help maintain order. Some large prisons hold thousands of individuals,” EBSCO said in its material.
Prisons use lockdowns, segregation, out-of-state transfers and other means to try and control or quell gang activity. Research presented by two University Minnesota Duluth professors in 2001 said there was no tested research on if those type of methods worked.
Similar methods are used today.
The 2020 survey report from the NGCRC said that 40% of prison respondents agreed that isolation was effective in controlling gangs.
An article shared by the NIJ said that three studies, one each in Arizona, Ohio and Texas showed that using restrictive housing for gang members showed beneficial effects on reducing prison misconduct. Yet, approaches found in systems that managed gangs with limited restrictive housing and still keeping violence low “may be models for the rest of the country.”
Solutions shared by other studies said states have reduced the size of prisons to curb gang activity and reduced the use of contraband. Developing connections with loved ones as well as education and rehabilitation, specifically for gang members and led by their peers are also methods used in prisons.
