Transcript
The American Prison Writing Archive (APWA) c/o Hamilton College 198 College Hill Road; Clinton NY 13323-1218 The social fractmentation that exist between minorities, law enforcement and the Criminal Justice System: BY: Luis D. Perez W33937 For years I have studied the prison environment and I am taking this opportunity to address one of the most important issues of my prison experience. The government is calling "Security Threat Groups (STG)" or Gangs. - Within our prison subculture the individuals who are engeged in membership calling themselves Associates, Nation, or Brotherhoods. I am supporting Prison Reform and this essay is aimed at the Criminal Justice System in America, even-though many people don't care about prisow ners' opinions. I am making the following suggestion as a form of a propo- sal. I keep my hopes alive that somehow legislative action will authorize pilot programs for the entire prison system in the country. PROPOSAL AND RECOMMNDATIONS 1. The Department of Xouth Services will create a Training Program for staff and inmates, like the one we have 33 years ago from the Director of Training Mass. Criminal Justice Counsel. This program would help volunteer inmates to talk to Hight School and College students from the same county where the prison or County Jail is located. 2. Juvenile gang members arrested for minor offenses or first time offenders, can participate in programs at the prison, but a diffe- rent style of programs than the one was designed for the school. This kind of program with STG members or former STG will be targeting the major criminagenic risk factor's correlated with criminal behavior of juvenile gagns that cost them the incarceration. This project will also include female inmates who may volunteer to participate. Juvenile Judges from each county can assess the cases of juvenile offenders with the D.O.C. and County Jail for program recommendations simi- lar to what Judge Thomas Quinn did in small proportion with us back in 1979 and 1980 at MCI—WALPOLE. We did not have the scare strait learned from the prison system in New York, however that idea help us to create educational program here in Massachusetts. Eurthermore, a comprehensive evaluation of those programs will assist the School Department, Law Enforcement, and Community Leaders on how to deal with crime prevention by creating contigency plans aimed at juvenile gangs who are operating in Cities and Towns in America. The Massachusetts Department of Correction (D.O.C.) for many years has had tunnel vision, either it's "Black or White" without putting attention to the growing "Gray Areas" that deals with mental illness, prison subculture“& the changes that it made every 9 or 10 years as a result of drug,,music, and life style that is reflected from the movie industry. The D.0-C- 100k at the Gray areas when there is a case of police being murdered, rape murder or a drive—by shooting. That standard procedures need to be changed in America. Another interested issue is with the level of classification and Home- land Security dealing with people who are associated with those groups inside the prison or in the street who are carrying the same name as the _2_. groups in local areas in minorities neighborhood. Minorities became the majority across the board in correctional facilities., without specific programs to clear their name from the stegma of "STG". For the most part, the D.O.C. is forming guidelines to operate security, without studying the prison subculture within their individual "TURF", or by—laws that govern STG, Associations and Brotherhoods I dedicated many hours, days and years to understanding this human phenomenon. I have talked to more than 35,000 students who visited our program at the prison and I wrote articles about it. In fact, I also wrote two books already published; "Adnormal Footprints" and "Despatriado" "man without Country". I also spent more than 45 years of incarceration (State & Federal), and based on that experience I further studied many avenues to deffuse gang activities. It is important to mention that on my journey in prison, I was doing college exchange with Religious Humanities and I was also taking classes on different factions from the Islamic Church. My teacher was a Muslim from Lebanon and he was well educated with a great knowledge of the Holy Koran. There was an indication that one of the religious groups was able to break down a couple of the paragraphs of the Holy Koran and interpreted that "Struggle’ for life" has another meaning of martydom. My main concern is with the strong posibility of religious fanatics or cult redicalizing gang members for the purpuse of commiting sabotage on civilian and government instalation or participating on other terrprist attacks in U.S. territories, while we are having civil unrest of racial disparities in America. There were cases of comparizon with other religious groups or cults that got trapped by fanatics‘ interpretation of the Bible. We all learned from historical experience or cases like Jim Jones in Guayana, Weco Texas and how this individuals were able to kill over a thousand of people . Religious around the world have become a source of LOVE and POWER, while on the other hand fanatics among the 14 religious officially recognized reli- gious of the world. For centuries people have used religious for controiand manipulation by killing people in the name of GOD. It was easy for me to obtain college degree and religious certification, but I never knew how it would impact my personal life inside the prison. When I was studying Protestantism and Catholicismlffmflggwfltvti religious education—brought me to Native American'diversitv in comparison to Native Americans’ sin Central and South America, including Natives from the Cari- bbeans. I am mentioned this episode for credivility purposes on my writing. Again, based in good faith, I want the readers know that at the present time, the traditional STG names have multiplied with other names, including those groups that belong to white _4_ people operating with other names, including those groups that functions as street STG and motorcicle gangs in cities and towns. Incarceration is not the sulution, we need to re-educating our young people. The prison systems had the information that is needed for the school system. Those components can lead to success and eventually would create a network of evidence based programs designed to reduce recidivist and gang activities in the community. CONCLUSION The enemy is within, Public Safety is looking at the prison system as a bussiness industry. The national security in America would be compromised by potential home-growing terro- rists activities and the enemy within the system of government continue to look at the problems in the application of justice to increase the prison population knowingiytfi’WmMHALlMBPAEHIES%" and the social fractmentation that exist between minoritiesand law enforcement. Lone-wolfs with infiltration of money can control drugs, weapons and influence local gang members whorcan select soft targets to further harm the country and create civil nflic between Police and minor'ties in A erica. Respect P.O. Box 466, Gardner, Mass. 01440 _4_
