Gangs
May 18, 2012
Long Beach Police, D.A. investigating officer-involved shooting
Long Beach Police Department Homicide detectives and the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office have launched an investigation into an officer-involved shooting of a parolee and suspected gang-member who allegedly pulled a gun on a patrolman, police said Friday morning.
The incident occurred at about 11:55 p.m. in North Long Beach, said Nancy Pratt, a Long Beach Police Department spokeswoman.
The officer was patrolling the area of Atlantic Avenue and East 51st Street when he spotted a vehicle traveling at a high rate of speed, Pratt said...
LINK - ContraCostaTimes.com
May 18, 2012
POLICE SEEKING PAROLEE AFFILIATED WITH GANGS
Patrick Alex Newborn, 24
Wanted: Newborn is a documented gang member wanted for violating parole. He has a criminal history that includes felony domestic violence and firearms- and narcotic-related charges.
Description: Black, 5 feet 6 inches tall, 155 pounds, black hair, brown eyes.
Frequented areas: He is known to frequent El Cajon and the Mid-City area of San Diego...
LINK - UTSanDiego.com
April 25, 2012
Armed Bulldog gang member arrested after robbery
A Bulldog gang member is in jail after police say he snatched a necklace from a cashier at an East Central Fresno market.
Fresno Police arrested Gerald Kane Tuesday morning. Investigators say Kane was armed when he walked in to a Get N Go Market on Tulare and Peach in East Central Fresno Monday night...
LINK - ABCLocal.go.com
April 1, 2012
GANG MEMBER KNOWN TO FREQUENT CHULA VISTA
U-T San Diego is profiling a wanted suspect each week in an effort to make our community safer. We are partnering with Crime Stoppers and law enforcement to profile known fugitives as well as draw attention to unsolved crimes committed by unknown suspects. This week’s most wanted suspect:
Abel Cervantes, 39
Wanted: Cervantes is wanted for violating parole. He is a second-strike parolee and gang member who has been convicted for multiple assaults with a deadly weapon, robbery and narcotic-related charges...
LINK - UTSanDiego.com
March 15, 2012
Eleven Arrested by Gang Task Force Thursday
The Santa Cruz County Gang Task Force (GTF) rounded up 11 criminals for incarceration on Thursday following a sweep of the north and mid-county areas.
The GTF is made up of officers and agents from the Santa Cruz County Anti-Crime Team (SCCACT), Santa Cruz Police Department, Capitola Police Department, Watsonville Police Department, Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office, California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI)....
LINK - Capitola.Patch.com
February 20, 2012
Prison “SNY Gangs” Part 2
Record numbers of gang dropouts in the California Prison System are flooding protective custody yards, called Sensitive Needs Yards, or “SNY's.”
Now, those supposed dropouts have formed a new brand of gang terrorizing other inmates who just want to do their time in peace.
FOX 11’s Chris Blatchford shows us Part Two of his report on SNY gangs...we find out that they're now moving their criminal influence from the prisons and into the streets...
LINK - MyFoxLA.com
February 2, 2012
Police Seek Public’s Help Locating Dangerous Bulldog Gang Member
Fresno police have released photos to the public of a suspect they say murdered a Fresno man on Sunday hoping someone can help lead to his whereabouts and arrest.
Police say Fernando Figueroa, a parolee and known gang member is responsible for the shooting death of Sergio Lopez, 30, who was found suffering from a gunshot wound in an apartment at 5145 E Lane in south east Fresno...
LINK - KSEE24.com
January 23, 2012
Shooting death of unarmed parolee being investigated
An investigation was under way today into the death of a wanted parolee and suspected gang member who turned out to be unarmed when he was shot and killed by Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies in Lancaster while allegedly running away and appearing to reach for a weapon.
The man killed late Saturday night was Christian Cobian, 26, of Lancaster, the Los Angeles County coroner's office said this morning.
Cobian was on probation following felony convictions and was wanted on a narcotics warrant, according to the Sheriff's Department...
LINK - ContraCostaTimes.com
January 18, 2012
Another “Non-Non-Non” parolee gang member arrested for burglary
A 21-year-old woman and a reputed gang member who was recently released on unsupervised parole were charged Wednesday with receiving stolen property, officials said.
Ryan Ogden, 24, of Canoga Park and Christina Holliday, 21, of Tujunga both face two felony counts of receiving stolen property, according to a Los Angeles County Superior Court criminal complaint.
The pair, along with a 16-year-old girl, were likely driving around Glendale and breaking into cars early Monday before they were stopped by police, Sgt. Tom Lorenz said...
LINK - GlendaleNewsPress.com
December 28, 2011
Known gang member stabbed in north Gilroy
A known gang member and parolee was stabbed by multiple men in a north Gilroy gang attack, police said.
Just before 10:15 p.m. Wednesday, the 20-year-old man was walking alone on the 8100 block of Murray Avenue when the attack occurred, police said. After the attack, police received a call from the man saying that he had been stabbed, police said. Police responded to Grant Court to find him lying in the road...
LINK - GilroyDispatch.com
October 19, 2011
One More: Parolee, Prison gang member charged in double slaying
A top-ranking member of the deadly Nuestra Familia prison gang who served time in federal prison has been arrested and charged with the stabbing deaths of two people found in a burning Oakland apartment, authorities said.
Henry Cervantes, 47, has been charged with two counts of murder in the slayings of Johnny Gilbert Navaerette, a 73-year-old paroled killer, and Renee Washington, 56.
The bodies of Navaerette and Washington were found in a second-floor apartment on the 3100 block of Coolidge Avenue in Oakland early Sept. 11 after firefighters doused a blaze there...
LINK - SFGate.com
September 15, 2011
Prison Gangs and Photos
Prison gangs are criminal organizations that originated within the penal system and they have continued to operate within correctional facilities throughout the United States. Prison gangs are also self-perpetuating criminal entities that can continue their operations outside the confines of the penal system.
Typically, a prison gang consists of a select group on inmates who have an organized hierarchy and who are governed by an established code of conduct. Prison gangs vary in both organization and composition, from highly structured gangs such as the Aryan Brotherhood and Nuestra Familia to gangs with a less formalized structure such as the Mexican Mafia (La Eme).
Prison gangs generally have fewer members than street gangs and Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs(OMGs) and are structured along racial or ethnic lines. Nationally, prison gangs pose a threat because of their role in the transportation and distribution of narcotics.
Prison gangs are also an important link between drug-trafficking organizations (DTOs), street gangs and OMGs, often brokering the transfer of drugs from DTOs to gangs in many regions. Prison gangs typically are more powerful within state correctional facilities rather than within the federal penal system.
September 13, 2011
2 plead not guilty in toddler shooting death
Two men have pleaded not guilty to the shooting death of an east Oakland toddler during a gang-rival drive-by.
The San Francisco Chronicle says 26-year-old Lawrence Curtis Denard and 22-year-old Willie Torrence entered the pleas Monday in Alameda County Superior Court...
LINK - MercuryNews.com
August 27, 2011
K-9 helps run down wanted gang member; parolee nabbed after Redding chase
A police dog named Tarro helped Redding police and California Highway Patrol officers catch a wanted gang member Friday afternoon after he ran from them along Interstate 5, leading to the temporary lockdown of three schools.
Investigator Will Williams said officers were called to an apartment on the 3600 block of Churn Creek Road to investigate a report of a family with small children living without electricity.
When officers arrived, parolee Brandon Scott Paillon, 24, of Redding, ran out the back of the apartment with a 16-year-old girl, who Williams said had earlier run away from home. Paillon is a documented gang member out of Orland, Williams said...
LINK - Redding.com
August 23, 2011
Riot at GEO private prison in Oklahoma
LAWTON, Okla. – A huge fight at Lawton's GEO Prison has left a number of people injured. It happened around 4:30 p.m., at least 15 people are injured, six of which have been taken to the hospital. The prison is on lockdown.
A 7News crew has seen three ambulances leave the prison. There is a fourth still parked outside. We are not sure how many people were involved in the fight or where it took place. But police suspect the fight was gang-related...
LINK - NewsChannel110.com
June 30, 2011
CCPOA Member Alert: Rival Gangs Riot at CMC
June 23, 2011
CA budget cuts slash monitoring of gang parolees
While state prison officials plan to move tens of thousands of inmates to county jails in a highly publicized budget move, they began another money-saving effort last month: removing GPS tracking devices from hundreds of paroled gang members.
Corrections officials had been monitoring about 950 gang members statewide through GPS, but budget cuts are forcing them to cut the number to 400 by July 1, said Oscar Hidalgo, spokesman for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
"We have to make some difficult choices," Hidalgo said. "Obviously, during better fiscal times, we would work to increase those numbers once again."
The reductions, which are saving the state $6 million, include the removal of tracking devices from 40 of the 60 gang members monitored in Sacramento County. The cuts come at a particularly difficult time for local law enforcement agencies, especially the Sacramento Police Department, which is disbanding its gang unit next week...
LINK - SacBee.com
June 20, 2011
Parolee at large in domestic dispute
The Merced County Sheriff's SWAT team was called out to the 600 block of Gerard Avenue Saturday on a domestic dispute call.
The reason for the dispute is still under investigation but a 38-year-old suspect allegedly struck a female victim in the face, according to the sheriff's department news release. His identity hasn't been released and he remains at large.
When deputies arrived, the woman said the suspect was still in the residence and had a handgun. The suspect is a validated gang member on parole for possession of a concealed weapon...
LINK - MercedSunStar.com
February 23, 2011
Lake Elsinore parolee arrested by RivCo gang task force in Lakeland Village
A 26-year-old parolee from Lake Elsinore wanted in connection with a 2008 assault that left the victim with the loss of sight in one eye has been arrested by a gang task force, said Sgt. Dean Agnoletto.
Raymond Osuna was taken into custody Tuesday after a short stand-off with officers at a residence in the 17300 block of Curtis Avenue in Lakeland Village near Lake Elsinore, Agnoletto. Osuna, who is also known as Raymond Solis, was booked into the Southwest Detention Center.
Osuna was considered a parolee-at-large by the California Department of Corrections and wanted for a 2008 Lake Elsinore Police Department assault/mayhem investigation where the victim lost vision in one eye...
LINK - SWRNN.com
November 23, 2010
Mexican Mafia Continues To Operate In Prison
10News received unprecedented access to go inside Donovan State Prison to see how law enforcement battles a criminal empire that continues to operate behind bars. 10News went along with the investigative unit and the dog teams during a surprise raid at the level four, maximum security prison yard.
During the raid, the inmates are put on the ground and removed from their cell, but an officer and his dog Scout already know which high-priority cells to target after weeks of intelligence work.
The investigative unit is targeting the Mexican Mafia, the oldest and most powerful prison gang in the United States, as it operates behind bars...
LINK - 10News.com
November 17, 2010
Gang member pleads no contest to extortion
A 57-year-old Chino Sinners gang member pleaded no contest Friday to charges that he tried to extort a $1,000 gang "tax" from a parolee who had recently moved to Chino Hills.
Ruben Johnny Gonzales's plea was entered in West Valley Superior Court as part of a plea agreement that carries a 20-year prison sentence, Deputy District Attorney Carlo DiCesare said.
Because Gonzales had two strike convictions, he faced a potential sentence of 39 years to life if convicted at trial, DiCesare said...
LINK - DailyBulletin.com
July 12, 2010
12 arrested on suspicion of gang enhancements, resisting officers at party
Soledad police said a dozen men, including two known Norteño gang members, and a juvenile were arrested early Sunday morning at a home of a wanted parolee.
At 2:40 a.m., Lt. Jaime Fernandez said, officers were dispatched to a call reporting the battery of several women at a home on the 1900 block of Palm Avenue.
Fernandez said several men standing outside the residence ran down the driveway after responding officers tried to contact them. During the brief foot chase, one of the men dropped a handgun onto the driveway. The men locked themselves in the homes...
LINK - TheCalifornian.com
May 10, 2010
Monterey County charges Northern Riders as a gang for the first time in state
In a first for California, five Monterey County men are facing criminal charges that they committed a crime to benefit the Northern Riders — a rapidly growing Norteño dropout group, a gang officer revealed this week.
The men are facing charges stemming from a Dec. 5 assault against one of their own at the Monterey County Jail.
The men, Jesus Cota, Billy Auyon, Ramiro Rodriguez, Ivan Morales and Eric Amaro, are accused of carrying out the crime to further their gang's influence in communities...
LINK - TheCalifornian.com
March 17, 2010
Prison policy weighed: Size, gangs may cause fits for cell integration
In preparation for a statewide plan to integrate individual prison cells, much was said about Texas and its largely successful attempts to do the same in the early 1990s.
Now that Folsom State Prison has become the fourth California institution to implement a prison cell integration policy, the promise and challenge of the Lone Star example are drawing more scrutiny.
James Hernandez is a professor of criminal justice at California State University, Sacramento, and a skeptic of the integration policy. An expert on various street gangs, he cautions against holding Texas prisons up as the model for California’s overcrowded institutions.
“With California, a lot of the problem is sheer numbers,” he said...
LINK - FolsomTelegraph.com
December 10, 2009
Four months after fact, CDCR announces CIM riot was based on fight between gangs
A riot at a Southern California prison that left more than 200 injured and two buildings destroyed was triggered by an "ongoing racial street war" between black and Hispanic gangs, corrections officials say.
The Aug. 8 fight erupted in a section of the California Institution for Men in Chino that houses newly arriving inmates from Southern California and ex-convicts returning to prison for parole violations.
Unaffiliated inmates joined the brawl after gang members began fighting, Terry Thornton, a spokeswoman for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, said Wednesday…
LINK - Google.com AP News
October 13, 2009
Teen gang-banger gets LWOP for murder
A defendant who was 14 years old when he went on a shooting spree through south Modesto and killed a young father will likely die behind bars after a judge sentenced him Friday to 132 years to life in prison.
Angel Cabanillas, now 18, will be the only California inmate serving what is, in practical terms, life in prison without the possibility of parole for a crime committed at the age of 14 or younger, his defense attorney said in Stanislaus County Superior Court.
Probation officials said Cabanillas' sentence was the longest they could recall in their two decades working for the county…
LINK - ModBee.com
October 1, 2009
Parolee, gang-banger charged with assaulting cop with deadly weapon, battery on cop, meth for sale
A 24-year-old man shot by a San Mateo police detective during a drug raid has been charged with assaulting a police officer, a prosecutor said Wednesday.
Police say Joseph Ortega, a parolee and documented gang member, slammed his Mitsubishi into a car carrying officers to a house in the 1400 block of Newbridge Avenue on Aug. 13. The officers were coming to the home to serve a drug search warrant on 25-year-old Hector Ramirez, who police say is a parolee and documented gang member.
Before officers could get into the residence, Ramirez walked out of the house and got into the passenger side of Ortega's Mitsubishi, which was parked on the street. Ortega drove into the police car, and then an officer who has not been identified shot him in the heart, police said. Ortega survived but the bullet is still in his heart. He has been charged with assault with a deadly weapon on a police officer and battery on a police officer, said assistant deputy district attorney Karen Guidotti. She said both charges are felonies and Ortega faces up to five years in prison if convicted…
LINK - InsideBayArea.com
September 23, 2009
Calif. prison on lockdown after multiple fights
Authorities say inmates at a California prison used canes, walkers and wheelchair parts as weapons in fights that sent 24 prisoners to hospitals and forced the facility to be put on lockdown.
Administrators are investigating the violence Monday between rival Latino gangs at Avenal State Prison.
Spokeswoman Terry Thornton of the California Department of Corrections says the fights began around 8:30 p.m. in the yard of one of six dormitory complexes on the prison grounds. Fights later erupted in other dormitories…
LINK - DailyBulletin.com
August 12, 2009
Calif. struggles to desegregate its prison inmates
The riot that ravaged a Southern California prison and injured 175 inmates began with a fight between black and Hispanic gang members, a stark reminder of the difficulty of race relations behind bars and the challenges of desegregating inmates.
In the nation's largest state prison system, black, Hispanic, Asian and white gangs generally don't mix. When they do, trouble typically follows.
"It isn't that everybody in the inmate population is against integration — they like their teeth," said David Miles, a 46-year-old black inmate at another prison, Sierra Conservation Center…
LINK - Google.com Associated Press
June 21, 2009
BREAKING NEWS: Corcoran Prison Under Lockdown
Sunday at approximately 12:08 p.m., a riot involving two Hispanic prison gang factions, Northern and Southern Hispanics occurred in the Facility-C Maximum Security General Population yard at the California Substance Abuse Treatment Facility and state prison resulting in injuries to 11 inmates who were transported offsite to area hospitals for medical attention.
The incident involved approximately 75 inmates, some of which utilized inmate manufactured stabbing and slashing type weapons. One of the 11 inmates sustained serious enough injuries, requiring helicopter transportation to a nearby hospital. That inmate is listed in stable condition.
Responding correctional staff discharged pepper spray, rubber baton rounds, and two warning shots from a mini-14 rifle to stop the fighting. Following the incident, officers recovered 28 inmate manufactured stabbing and slashing type weapons from the scene.
None of the correctional officers received any injuries as a result of this incident…
LINK - ABCLocal.GO.com
June 8, 2009
El Monte Police sweep parolees, gang members
A gang-member and parolee sweep Friday netted nine arrests on various charges, El Monte Police officials said.
During the sweep, three parolees and six gang members were arrested, said Chief Tom Armstrong.
The three parolees were arrested on burglary charges and one was found with a gun, Armstrong said. Two gang members were arrested on burglary warrants, another was arrested for narcotics sales, the fourth for a robbery warrant, a fifth gang member for possession of methamphetamine, and the sixth was arrested on a narcotics warrant, Armstrong said…
LINK - SGVTribune.com
April 23, 2009
Gang parolee arrested in Salinas on same day he was released from jail
Officers of Salinas' Violence Suppression Unit, the city's gang unit, conducted a parole search at the residence of Ruben Lopez, 46, a suspected gang member at 4 p.m. Wednesday on the 2300 block of North Main Street.
Lopez had just been released from Alameda County Jail earlier in the day.
Officers also contacted Eddie Gonzales, 27, a suspected gang member…
LINK - TheCalifornian.com
April 2, 2009
Canadians in California prison caught in crossfire of Mexican gang violence, mother says
The mother of a Canadian imprisoned in a California jail on marijuana charges is pleading with Ottawa to do something to help her son and other Canadian inmates living in violent conditions among those she describes as hardened Mexican gang members.
Sirah Vettese, a Canadian-born author and psychologist now living in Santa Monica, says her 36-year-old son, imprisoned for operating a San Diego-area grow-op, is afraid for his life as gang violence breaks out regularly in the California City Correctional Center east of Los Angeles.
There have been two lockdowns in recent weeks after violence erupted at the facility, which only houses "deportable aliens," not U.S. citizens…
LINK - Google.com AP News
September 5, 2008
Tehachapi prison fight breaks out
A fight broke out Thursday evening among scores of inmates at a Tehachapi prison.
Up to 200 people got into a fight at about 7 p.m. at the California Correctional Institution, according to Lt. Brian Parriott, spokesman for the prison. The fight was apparently between inmates from Southern California and people from Mexico.
Two inmates were injured and taken to local hospitals. No correctional officers were injured…
LINK - Bakersfield.com
July 11, 2008
Prison agency probes breach
Officials at California's Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation said Friday the department has launched its own investigation into how a female state worker married to an incarcerated member of Mexican Mafia ended up with confidential state prison materials at her Sacramento home.
The Department's Office of Correctional Safety has opened a probe to determine how the woman obtained the materials and whether any member of the public or any of its own institutional staff has been put at risk because of the woman's marital relationship to a validated Mexican Mafia member, Corrections spokeswoman Terry Thornton said.
The office specializes in investigating prison gang activities, gathering intelligence and performing threat assessments, Thornton added…
LINK - SacBee.com (The Sacramento Bee)
July 10, 2008
State Corrections Officer speaks in Fortuna; gangs is the subject at Chamber meeting
On Monday June 23, the Fortuna Chamber of Commerce held it's weekly luncheon at the Monday Club on Main Street. Special guest speaker was Greg Allen of the California State Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation who gave a special presentation about gangs locally and abroad.
In his presentation, Allen shared a few photos taken recently of what appeared to be blue spray painted graffiti in Fortuna.
To begin with definitions, agent Allen said that a gang is three or more people having a common name or common identifying sign or symbol whose members individually or collectively engage in, or have engaged in a pattern of criminal gang activity. There are also misguided individuals, who are usually youths who copy symbols and patterns and deface businesses and residential areas at times, using similar mischievous patterns…
LINK - HumboldtBeacon.com
July 5, 2008
Six arrested in gang sweep
Six arrests were made Thursday during a multi-agency planned sweep that emphasized gang suppression, according to the Glenn County Sheriff's Office.
Approximately fifteen law enforcement personnel from the Glenn County Sheriff's Office, including two K-9 units and two Correctional Officers, probation, state parole, Glenn Inter-Agency Narcotics Task Force Agents, and a Willows P.D. officer participated in the sweep…
LINK - Willows-Journal.com
July 3, 2008
Segregation of prisoners ends in California
In what is being described as a major advancement for civil rights, California is ending a long-standing policy of segregation and allowing prisoners of different races to live together.
Despite its liberal reputation, California was among the few states that still used race as the determining factor for some male prisoners' cell assignments. Prison officials initially defended the measure as necessary to control racial and gang violence, but some inmates and civil rights activists disagreed.
The unwritten policy wound up before the United States' highest court in 2005. Starting this month, prison officials will begin fully integrating its cells, beginning with low-level offenders at two facilities…
LINK - NationalPost.com
June 28, 2008
Domestic Terrorist Levar Washington Sentenced to 22 Years
A former inmate in a California state prison who became part of a domestic terrorist cell that planned to attack United States military operations, "infidels," and Israeli and Jewish facilities in the Los Angeles area was sentenced this morning to 22 years in federal prison.
United States District Judge Cormac J. Carney sentenced Levar Washington, 30, who was recruited into the terrorist cell while in state prison and subsequently recruited others into the plot, this morning. Washington pleaded guilty last year to conspiring to wage war against the United States and a weapons charge.
Two other defendants in the case - Kevin James, who formed the terrorist group which he dubbed Jam'iyyat Ul-Islam Is-Saheeh, or JIS, while in a California state prison, and Gregory Patterson - also pleaded guilty last year to the terrorism conspiracy charge. Patterson is scheduled to be sentenced on July 9, and James is scheduled to be sentenced on February 9, 2009…
LINK - ImperialValleyNews.com
June 28, 2008
Inmate suspects put in segregation
A California State Prison, Solano inmate stabbed Tuesday at the facility continues to recover at John Muir Medical Center in Walnut Creek, prison officials said Thursday.
The inmate, whose name was not released, had brawled with two fellow members of the southern Hispanic group at the prison and was repeatedly stabbed in the back and kidney area, officials said.
One wound resulted in a collapsed lung, officials said, describing the other cuts as superficial…
LINK - TheReporter.com Vacaville
June 17, 2008
$2.5M payout doesn’t keep Anaheim man from gang
Jose Luis Munoz couldn't stay away from gang life, even after a $2.5 million payday.
The 23-year-old Anaheim man received the money from a lawsuit against the city and police. He had been on foot and was struck from behind by a police cruiser while surrendering after a brief chase in 2005.
He was released from prison in October. A gang member, Munoz already had lost four years to Juvenile Hall and prison.
He said in December while waiting for the check from the city that he was eager "to do the right thing." He was going to move out of his gang-plagued neighborhood, buy a house for his mother…
LINK - SacBee.com (The Sacramento Bee - Associated Press)
June 4, 2008
Four arrested in local sweep
The task force, known as MAGEC, was formed last November, with the goal of having several agencies work together to dismantle and prevent gangs, specifically in the eastern part of the county. The team first hit the streets together in February, and on Friday, they were a visible force in Kingsburg.
A group of approximately 40 uniformed and plain-clothed public safety officers gathered at the Kingsburg Police Department in preparation for the 10-hour suppression detail. A breakdown of the operation was projected onto the wall with this mission statement: "Apprehend, identify and vigorously prosecute criminal street gang members within the County of Fresno."
Officers from the Sheriff's Department, CHP, California Department of Corrections, and seven local police departments were split into teams. "Most of the officers will be concentrating their efforts on Kingsburg for awhile before going out to other areas," said Kingsburg's Police Chief Jeff Dunn…
LINK - KingsburgRecorder.com
May 21, 2008
FBI: New gangs emerge
The FBI has warned law enforcement agencies that two groups of ex-Norteño gang members gaining strength in the prison system could spur more violence in Monterey County and elsewhere in Northern California.
A May 5 classified report, intended only for gang-intelligence officers, says Norteño "dropout" groups such as Nuevas Flores (New Flowers) and Northern Riders pose an increasing threat on the streets of Monterey, Santa Clara, San Francisco, Sacramento and Mendocino counties as they gain influence within the state's lockups, attracting large numbers of recruits.
The groups are made up of ex-Norteños and former members of Nuestra Familia who've joined forces, in part, to offer each other protection from their former gangs.Once released from prison, the report says, these gang dropouts aspire to establish official territory in areas already occupied by Norteño and Sureño street gangs…
LINK - TheCalifornian.com
April 24, 2008
Anti-gang initiative heads for ballot
A group of local supporters of an anti-gang initiative said Thursday that nearly 800,000 signatures have been collected statewide to place the measure on the November election ballot. […] Reynolds said the initiative needs only 434,000 valid signatures to qualify for the ballot.
The measure would increase prison terms for some gang-related crimes, deny bail to undocumented immigrants, require convicted gang members to register with local authorities, impose felony penalties on serial graffiti offenders and create an early intervention and rehabilitation commission.
About $340 million a year would be provided for anti-crime programs, including about $8.5 million for Fresno County, Reynolds said…
LINK - FresnoBee.com
April 4, 2008
50 CIM inmates fight: 12 Hurt Before C.O.s Can Restore Order
Twelve prisoners were injured during a fight between white and Latino inmates on Friday at the California Institution for Men. The fighting started about 9:15 a.m. inside one of Reception Center-West's housing units, according to a CIM news release.
Using pepper spray, guards broke up the fight at the Laguna Hall unit within minutes. Lt. Mark Hargrove, a prison spokesman, said five of the injured inmates were taken to hospitals. He said one inmate had puncture wounds to his abdomen but that none of the injuries were life-threatening.
Hargrove said about 50 inmates were involved in what he called a "riot." A fight - apparently between a white and a Latino inmate - got more serious when the other inmates joined in, Hargrove said.
Laguna Hall is an open dormitory with 198 inmates, according to the news release…
LINK - DailyBulletin.com
April 4, 2008
Union (CCPOA) Releases Statement About Tehachapi Stabbing
Today, between 12:30 and 1:00pm at the California Correctional Institution an incident occurred at their 4A Facility. Initial reports indicate that two (2) Southern Hispanic inmates armed with inmate manufactured stabbing weapons came out of either the library or classroom area and attacked the Unit office.
Three staff were stabbed numerous times in the face and neck area which included two Sergeants and one of the two officers assigned to the area. The other officer injured their knee but was not stabbed.
Because of the location, the Yard Gunner could not fire. Staff once again demonstrated their bravery and courage in protecting one-another, and with the help of the Lieutenant in the back office and responding staff, quelled the attacks…
LINK - KGET.com
April 3, 2008
3 Guards Stabbed at California Prison
Two gang-affiliated inmates rushed three guards at a state prison Thursday and stabbed them, putting them in the hospital, officials said.
All state prisons were locked down as a precaution after the stabbing at the California Correctional Institution in Tehachapi, said Terry Thornton, a spokeswoman for the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
The victims, two sergeants and an officer, were stable at hospitals, Thornton said. The two inmates are affiliated with Southern California prison gangs, she said…
LINK - AP.Google.com (Google/Associated Press)
March 28, 2008
Gang Initiation E-mail Causes Concern
Local authorities have not verified the veracity of an e-mail/text message making the rounds that warned of a potentially violent gang initiation Thursday night but a word of caution is going out nonetheless.
News10 is posting this information in part because at least five inquiries have come into the station about it.
The message reads:
"A correctional officer at one of the Northern California area's institutions intelligence division just intercepted a message from the national known South American gang "MS13″. The gang is expanding into the Northern California region rapidly. The message to the members "outside" was to hold gang initiations tonight…
LINK - News10.net (Sacramento)
March 4, 2008
Tulare County: “Officials ask for gang unit”
"I think [the new unit is] crucial," Williams said. "I think we have to apply whatever resources we can [to gang problems]."
Also in the works is a plan to train a dozen correctional deputies at Tulare County jails to become gang experts who would monitor the activities of inmates with gang ties — the majority inmates. They would gather intelligence for gang officers and identify "shot-callers" — inmates directing gang crimes from the jails.
Money for that program would come from the sheriff's department's existing budget, a supervisors report states.
LINK - VisaliaTimesDelta.com
February 29, 2008
Video: No Way Out of the California State Prison Merry-go-round?
This article originally ran in December, 1998, but may of the observations and issues remain.
December 1998 Atlantic Monthly
Interviews with prisoners and inmates illustrate a clear need for change in the California prison release program that is under consideration now. Prisons are run on fear. The gangs rule. Most inmates have no skills. They want and need education and training before they hit the streets.
David Rocha went into Section A at SAC (California State Prison outside of Sacramento) to talk to inmates and guards about the control gangs have over the lives of prisoners in prison and on the streets. The inmates in Section A are "no good" former gang members who have left their gangs and are in protective custody within the prison system. Some have release dates and hope for a new crime-free life outside of jail. Is there a way out for them?
LINK - IndyBay.org
February 27, 2008
Parolee Charged for Marijuana Sales on Campus
A documented gang member and parolee accused of selling marijuana to students at Cal State San Marcos pleaded not guilty Tuesday to five felony drug and weapon charges. Jermaine Sayles, 27, was arrested Friday after a raid by San Diego County sheriff's deputies on an apartment building near the CSUSM campus that was targeted after a tip from school officials about alleged marijuana sales.
LINK - Fox6.com News
February 25, 2008
28 Alleged Members of Violent ‘TTP Bloods’ Gang Indicted on Federal Racketeering, Drug and Gun Charg
A federal grand jury indicted 28 defendants for conspiracy to participate in a racketeering enterprise known as the Tree Top Piru Bloods gang (TTP Bloods) and conspiracy to distribute drugs and gun violations, announced United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein and Baltimore City State's Attorney Patricia C. Jessamy. The indictment was returned under seal on February 21, 2008, and unsealed today upon the arrests of eight defendants. Fourteen defendants were previously in custody. This indictment was the culmination of a long-term joint investigation by the ATF, Baltimore City State's Attorney's Office and the United States Attorney's Office.
United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein said, "More than 100 law enforcement officers deployed this morning to execute search warrants and arrest members of a violent gang known as TTP Bloods. The detailed indictment alleges that TTP Bloods gang members belong to a nationwide racketeering enterprise, for which they may be exiled to federal prison with no probation and no parole…"
LINK - PRNewsWire.com
