A grim reminder of prison gangs

Those of you who've read my memoir of prison chaplaincy will recall that I devoted a chapter to prison gangs.  I mentioned six particular 'problem gangs', those who pose the greatest threat to internal security and stability.  One of them was the Black Guerrilla Family (BGF), which is in the news again.

A large group of Baltimore corrections officers and members of a notorious prison gang have been working together to peddle drugs, phones and sex inside the city's jail, prosecutors say.

. . .

... the U.S. Attorney's Office for Maryland says this [involved] a prison gang, the Black Guerrilla Family ...

"Correctional officers were in bed with BGF inmates," said U.S. Attorney Rod Rosenstein.

Rosenstein seemed to mean that both literally and figuratively, court documents show. According to one indictment, alleged gang member Tavon White had a sexual relationship with four jail guards while he was incarcerated.

He impregnated all four of them and they all helped him smuggle items into prison, according to the indictment.

One of the guards had "Tavon" tattooed on her wrist, the indictment said.

In January, White summed up his standing in the prison while talking on a cell phone that had been smuggled in, the indictment says

"This is my jail. You understand that? I'm dead serious. ... I make every final call in this jail ... and nothing go past me. ... Any of my brothers that deal with anybody, it's gonna come to me. Before (somebody) stab somebody, they gotta run it through me," White said. according to the indictment.

There's more at the link.  Earlier this year Slate reported on a BGF takeover of Baltimore jails.

I can't for the life of me imagine how Baltimore authorities allowed things to deteriorate to this level.  Someone dropped the ball - probably several someones.  I imagine heads will roll . . . or, if they don't, it'll be time to investigate corruption and mismanagement in that department at an altogether higher level!

Peter