Gangs

Part II—Gang Investigations

Interview: Brian Parry

Consultant, FBI's National Gang Intelligence Center

Evil does exists behind the walls of our prisons. Mystery writers strive to capture these human hunters on pages of fiction, these predatory creatures that prey on the weak and helpless. We return today for a closer look at a problem that is welling up behind the walls of these institutions and spilling into the streets of our communities. Understanding the problem will allow fiction writers to write with more clarity, capturing the heart of this problem in stories that entertain, educate and ring with authenticity. 


On our last gang post, prison gang expert Brian Parry shared with us some of the challenges and success of the FBI’s National Gang Intelligence Center (NGIC) headquartered in Washington, DC. In this interview, Brian will give us a closer look at these prison gang organizations and the trouble their members carry into our communities.

Brian Parry has lived and breathed prison gang intelligence for years. He is currently a consultant to the FBI’s NGIC, providing expertise on the federal State Correctional Gang Intelligence Initiative. He sits on the Executive Leadership Council-National Major Gang Task Force, providing consultation and direction to an informational gang task force representing fifty states, Canada, and Puerto Rico. Since his retirement in 2002 as Assistant Director of the California Department of Corrections (CDC) , Brian consults with state and federal correctional facilities across the nation on prison gang issues. He has testified as an expert in many state and federal trials, including a case for the Attorney General in the State of Washington.

Brian witnessed many of these gangs rise to power, and he has been on the front lines trying to stem their tide of brutality and bloodshed. He began his law enforcement career on the streets of Los Angeles as a parole officer, and later as a supervisor and Special Agent in Charge of CDC’s Special Service Unit while liaison with national  criminal-intelligence units across the country. In his position as Assistant Director of CDC, Brian managed and directed all that agency’s investigative units consisting of over one hundred staff in eight field offices and gang investigators in thirty-three prisons.

MARK:  Brian, let’s begin with a quick history lessons as to how the prison gangs emerged in California and who they are?

BRIAN: The prison gangs started in the California prison system in the 1950’s. The Mexican Mafia was the first gang to form. They originally began with the leaders of fifteen to sixteen street gangs from Los Angeles. They wanted to become the gang of gangs. They wanted to control all of the prison rackets including drugs, contraband, prostitution, gambling and extortion. Later, they decided to move to control the drugs on the streets. The Nuestra Familia (NF) formed to protect itself against the Mexican Mafia. Most of the original NF members were from rural communities across California. 

These two gangs clashed in the 1960’s and have been at war with one another since. The warfare between the Surenos and Nortenos in California dates back to the problems between the Mexican Mafia and the NF. 

The Aryan Brotherhood also formed to protect the white inmates from the blacks and Hispanics. They were originally called the “Diamond Tooth “gang or the “Blue Birds”. Some of the original members had pieces of glass embedded between their front teeth and some had the tattoo of a bird on their necks. Some of the original members were biker types. 

The Black Guerilla Family (BGF) was formed to protect themselves from the other gangs and to organize the black inmates. The BGF was formed from a number of splinter groups which were active in the country. The BGF considered themselves as political prisoners and developed a Marxist philosophy. Later, other gangs formed including the Texas Syndicate, Northern Structure and Nazi Low Riders. In the late 1980’s the emergence of the street gangs such as Crips, Bloods, and Hispanic gangs only exasperated the gang problem.

MARK:  What is the status of these gangs today? For example, there have been many state and federal RICO prosecutions of these gang leaders who’ve subsequently transferred to the federal system. What challenges has this raised in law enforcement?

BRIAN: Despite vigorous suppression efforts these gangs continue to wreak havoc on the prison population and of course the communities in the state. Part of the problem is a seemingly unlimited supply of young street gang members who aspire to be in prison gangs and are more than willing to put in the work necessary to gain recognition and acceptance. And of course the work includes violence and drugs. Another problem which was unanticipated occurred when a number of gang leaders from the Mexican Mafia and NF went to federal prison. A division or rift now occurs between the leaders in the California prison system and the ones now in the federal prison system. So that has become a new challenge.

MARK:  How does CDC work to limit gang influence once these gang members enter the prison system? How have the prisons evolved to house these gangsters?

BRIAN: The policy that initially worked was to identify and isolate the leadership from the rest of the prison population. That worked for awhile. But, the gang leaders recruited the street gangs to do their work in the communities and on the main lines in most of the California prisons. So the leaders now could direst the gangs activity from some of the most secure prisons in the country. The number of street gang members entering the system is overwhelming. The prison system is dangerously overcrowded and is at 200% capacity. And it is estimated that at least half the California prison population is involved to some degree with the gangs. So the housing options for controlling gang members have diminished tremendously rendering the system very dangerous.