Pubdate: Sat, 05 Feb 2005 Source: Ottawa Sun (CN ON) Copyright: 2005 Canoe Limited Partnership Contact: http://www.ottawasun.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/329 Author: Kathleen Harris, Parliamentary Bureau Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/prison.htm (Incarceration) FEDERAL JAILS HIT BY GANG MENTALITY Canada's prisons are becoming overrun with a sophisticated network of ethnic, biker and aboriginal gangs -- and officials are bracing for numbers to soar even higher, the Sun has learned. At last count, 1,651 federal inmates -- more than 8% of the prison population -- were identified as being affiliated with gangs that 'are running the show" behind bars. A "conservative" estimate expects that number to climb by at least 200 within two years. Internal documents from the Correctional Service of Canada, obtained by the Sun through Access to Information, reveal a trend of increasingly varied gangs in jail. A snapshot in late 2003 shows 51 gangs operating behind bars, from white supremacist, Asian, aboriginal and cult gangs to motorcycle, mob and terror groups. Gang members pose "serious threats" to jails through contraband drugs and weapons, abusing the canteen systems, intimidating and extorting other inmates and corrupting staff and public officials, according to an internal CSC document. "The area that seems least affected is inmate visiting," the document reads. "Prison gangs take care to protect the visiting privilege, since visiting is a major means of trafficking items (money, drugs, contraband, etc.) back and forth between prison and the street." PROSTITUTION, SLAVERY Violence between rival gangs sometimes spills over to the general population, a CSC report notes. According to the same document, prison gangs have "been known" to engage in arson, strong-arm robbery, homosexual prostitution, prostitution through private family visits, slavery, murder, pornography, protection rackets and rape. Luciano Bentenuto, CSC's project manager for organized crime and criminal gangs, said a police crackdown on organized crime is the "major" factor for rising numbers of gang members in jail. ARRIVE WITH COLOURS "We tend to get whatever the law-enforcement officials end up targeting on the street and we just get who they end up convicting in the courts," he said. Bentenuto said the number of street gangs have tripled in Canada's penitentiaries in the last four years, adding most arrive wearing colours. CSC policy encourages "disaffiliation" and works to minimize security threats through trained intelligence officers. But Bentenuto admits isolating and/or rehabilitating each gang member is an impractical goal. Sylvain Martel, national president for the Union of Canadian Correctional Officers, said CSC's lax policies leave gang members "running the show." Gangs control the trafficking of narcotics and deadly weapons, he said. Martel rebuffed CSC claims that few offenders join gangs after they're incarcerated, insisting they join for status, privileges -- and survival. FEDERAL PRISON POPULATION Membership by group: Motorcycle gangs: 550 Aboriginal gangs: 437 Traditional organized crime: 237 Street gangs: 233 Asian gangs: 87 White supremacist gangs: 45 Prison gangs: 37 Terror organizations: 11 Extremist organizations: 6 Cults: 4 Eastern European organized crime: 4 Total: 1651 ONTARIO PRISON POPULATION Membership by group: Motorcycle gangs: 93 Street gangs: 39 Traditional organized crime: 19 Asian gangs: 16 Aboriginal: 12 White supremacist gangs: 7 Prison gangs: 7 Terror organizations: 4 Cults: 3 Eastern European organized crime: 2 Extremist organizations: 2 Total: 204 - -- From internal CSC documents 2003 - --- MAP posted-by: Terry Liittschwager