Gangs and the Transnational Drug Threat – The Prison Connection

Course Length: 2 Days (16 hours)

Coordinators: Katherine Argueta (727-692-4811)

Course Description: This course is primarily for corrections personnel and law enforcement officers working closely with correctional facilities. The influence of criminal street gang members on our prison system and back into our communities is paramount.  Methods to identify, monitor and manage these gang members as a security threat group are presented and discussed in this course. The relationship of gang members in prison with their local street gangs is emphasized to include intelligence, communications and criminal activities (drugs, violence, and extortion) in prison and on the streets. Criminal street gang members and Security Threat Group members utilize tactics to promote and further their criminal interests.

Course Objectives: At the conclusion of this course, the participant will be able to:

• Describe the difference between a member of a Security Threat Group and a member of a Criminal Street Gang, and why each group exists.
• Describe how and why a person becomes involved with Criminal Street Gangs and Security Threat Groups, and how each is connected to the other.
• Understand the function and services that can be provided by a Prison Gang Intelligence Unit, enhancing law enforcement’s ability to investigate illegal drug trafficking and related criminal street gang activities beyond the prison walls.
• Understand the three different types and purpose of gang related intelligence and how each member of the correctional facility plays an important role in the collection, verification and dissemination of the intelligence.
• Develop intake strategies for identification of criminal street gang members and prison gang members.
• Develop skills to identify street gang and/or STG members based on common identifiers, symbols, tattoos, graffiti, behavior, and physical evidence.
• Identify the predominant National Security Threat Groups (STG’s).
• Identify local Criminal Street Gangs and Security Threat Groups.
• Develop an understanding of the threat and propensity towards violence that these groups and their members pose to correctional staff, inmates/offenders, law enforcement and members of the community.
• Understand the different methods of communication between inmates within correctional facilities and between inmates and people outside the correctional facilities.
• Understand the relationship and prison dynamics between incarcerated gang members of different races.
• Recognize the tactics used by prison gang members to recruit potential members, and tactics used to prey upon non-gang member victims.
• Understand the methods used by prison gang members to generate illegal financial gains, to include the most common crimes.
• Understand the strategies used by correctional professionals to develop confidential sources of information within the inmate population, and understand the importance of Operational Security.
• Understand the criminal relationships between inmates that are from other states / countries.

Topics:

• Mindset of Criminal Street Gangs and Security Threat Groups
• Prison Intake Process and Housing
• Support Structure Inside and Outside of the Prisons
• Success Tactics for Management of Gangs in Prison
• Gang Origins
• Types of Gangs (Transnational / National / Regional / Neighborhood)
• Types of Crimes
• Major Gangs in the United States
• Immigrant Gangs
• Alliances
• Prison and Street Intelligence
• Safety