Veronica Okpani
Article 1
9-2-08
Maximum Riot
In one of the many L.A. jail riots, one in particular stood out to me the most. The North County Correctional Facility in Castaic, California experienced one of its most dangerous riots since this year. 200 inmates engaged in to a brutal uprising with reasons unknown, but jail officials speculate the cause of this riot was racial rivalry between the Black and Hispanic population leaving one black inmate dead and 100 injured. Jail officials have put the maximum security on lockdown but there is no say when they will be off. Reports show that the riot took place for approximately 30 minutes to an hour of serious fighting.
It is a proven for a fact that there is no prison in this country that doesn’t house any gangs or gang members. Now it is amazing to me that even in prison there is politics. Politics in the since that gangs must win their respect from other gangs and be titled the most feared.
Believe it or not gangs have been around since the beginning of time. One could classify empires as gangs. Now think about, what is the definition of a gang? A group of people that associates continuously, forming an allegiance for a common purpose.
In every prison system there are gangs that have been around before 1960 to this present time. And within these gangs the main purpose of their existence is for respect and fear. One would say that these riots happen because of territorial reasons or retaliation, but what are our prison systems doing to stop this and how can we as society help?
Some government and prison officials have set up programs within the prison system to prevent and protect inmates who want to relinquish their gang memberships. Along with theses programs prison officials have began to learn how to decipher gang codes of riots, “hits”(assassinations), rapes, and/or deadly gang fights. This strategic tactic helps prevent these horrible activates from occurring. But it is...