Are more violent clashes ahead with fearless super-gangs?

From inside the Maricopa County Jail, one of the nation’s largest, Frank Marcell sees straight into the future…and the view isn’t pretty.

Among the trends he believes have become “more fully corroborated” in the last several months are these:

• Alliances are being forged between street gangs and prison gangs to significantly expand and entrench the criminal activities on the outside that can be run by career offenders from behind bars.
• Ironically, some task force efforts to destroy gangs have actually fueled the development of “super-gangs” by pooling convicted criminals from scattered geographical areas into a single penal system.
• Some of the most vicious gangs, like the hyper-violent Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13), have moved “at an alarming rate” to dominate illegal enterprises in new rural and urban areas, where local law enforcement often is initially unprepared to recognize and deal with them.
• Domestic street and prison gangs are forming coalitions with powerful Mexican drug cartels, to gain muscle, money, and management skills.
• Violent confrontations with authorities seem certain to accelerate. In Marcell’s expert opinion, “Career criminals, who constitute the body and soul of gang leadership and membership, pose the single greatest threat to law enforcement and custodial personnel.”

Understanding the full impact of these trends and how they affect law enforcement, Marcell says, begins with understanding the nature of career criminals associated with the gang world, in and out of correctional facilities.

Career criminals.

“The old career criminal from the 1960s or ’70s tended to be a guy who graduated from juvenile delinquency into adult crime, did a stretch in prison, got out, got busted again, and continued that cycle throughout his life. He was a professional armed robber or burglar or check-kiter, whatever,” Marcell explains.

“It’s a new game today. Career criminals today belong to organized groups. They don’t necessarily limit themselves to just one kind of criminal act. They’re involved in anything that’s profitable—drugs, organized car thefts, gun running, human smuggling, fraud schemes, identity theft, home invasion—all across the board.

“They’re calculating, quick to seize any opportunity that advances their goals, contemptuous of law-abiding people and authority, convinced of their own invincibility, and capable of extreme violence.

“In correctional facilities, they bond in Security Threat Groups—prison gangs—usually along racial lines, like the Aryan Brotherhood, the Mexican Mafia, the Black Guerilla Family. All STGs are made up of career criminals. You can’t become a member if crime and criminal behavior are not your dedicated lifestyle.

“The majority of correctional officer assaults are ordered and done by these groups. They attempt to control all aspects of the incarceration environment, not only all criminal activities but also all ‘normal’ activities—the laundry, the store, the library, the exercise equipment, the mail. We see this now, more prevalent than ever. STGs are very powerful, and they rule by intimidation and fear.”

Street gang/prison gang connection.

On the street, Marcell says, kids are becoming gang members and “taking on the characteristics of career criminals at a much younger age. People still tend to view them as ‘juvenile delinquents,’ but they have moved far beyond that obsolete stereotype and are well-schooled in adult crimes—and violence.

“With more and more street gangs being targeted by skilled task forces, more members are ending up in prison. In this violent environment, they’re drawn to those who control things, and the STGs actively court and recruit them.

“By the time they go back into the community, the street gang members have been diligently schooled in the methods and mind-set of the prison gang they affiliate with. Now they’re the ‘big homies’ on the street, acting on behalf of the STG shot-callers, who are still behind bars.

“Here’s one common scenario: Say a street gang in Chicago has a market for coke in a certain area. Once that gang has an STG connection, the shot-callers in prison may decide to tax the business, with kickbacks going to them. If the gang doesn’t cooperate, there’ll be consequences when their members get to prison, where the STG is in control.

“So the prison gang ends up running activities of the street gang, the money finds its way to the shot-callers, and they use it for their own purposes, from attorneys’ fees to drugs to weapons inside.

“Those of us who run intelligence on STGs see this phenomenon day in and day out. It’s epidemic, but I wonder how many administrators are aware of these dynamics and their implications.”

Super-gangs.

“Federal gang task forces throughout the U.S. have arrested, convicted and incarcerated gang members in record numbers, and consequently members of many different street gangs end up in the federal prison system. This is where things get interesting,” Marcell says.

“Let’s say members of the Bloods from the East Coast who are heavily involved with cocaine distribution on the eastern seaboard get arrested and convicted. While incarcerated in the federal system, they become acquainted with Italian Mobsters from the East Coast and strike up an agreement to work together to further the distribution of drugs. Of maybe it’s the Mexican Mafia from Arizona that hooks up with the Mexican Mafia from California.

“It’s not that they necessarily like each other; it’s strictly a business agreement that works to their mutual benefit. They’re brought together by the circumstance of being incarcerated in the federal system, which draws from all over. Or maybe they connect in state prisons, which sometimes shuffle inmates around to out-of-state institutions.

“However they come to be formed, these gangs are now becoming super-gangs or coalitions. Collaborating provides them greater resources for expanding criminal enterprises, communication, and exchange of favors. For example, they can create hit teams that can go from one location to another and are unknown to local authorities to take care of any problem that arises.

“Also disconcerting are alliances being formed between prison/street gangs and crime cartels operating in Mexico along the border from California to Texas. This is widening and solidifying drug routes, as well as strengthening the trade in human smuggling and gun running.

“The infrastructure of super-gangs that’s building up is of major concern to my peers and me who specialize in gang activities across the U.S.”

Gang expansion.

“Street gangs are becoming more national in scope,” Marcell says. “Hispanic gangs from California are leaving the state in high numbers and showing up in both rural and urban areas across the U.S., for instance. Black gangs, as well. Once they land in a particular location, they introduce the local youth to the gang lifestyle. Reports of this happening are becoming more and more frequent.

“As just one example, the Mara Salvatrucha for a long time was primarily a Los Angeles problem. As they’ve grown in numbers and become more adept in the drug trade, they’ve relocated members to new geographical areas to dominate those locations for the drug market and other illegal enterprises.

“If you study this MS migration, you’ll see that they’ve gone to communities with little or no criminal competition or other entrenched Hispanic gangs, such as Virginia, Nebraska, and so on. Local cops without gang experience may not be prepared to handle them, and they encounter little resistance to a take-over.

“Gangs are spreading at an alarming rate. When you step back and look at this on a macro level, not just isolated jurisdictions, it’s becoming a huge problem.

“I think it’s time we started collecting, collating, and analyzing prison- and street-gang data on a national scale, creating a central data bank like Homeland Security does on terrorist activities. Perhaps a federal agency should be created, a gang czar. Certainly we need national forums to address this problem and look at it for what it is: a national epidemic.”

Officer threat.

“Beat cops and corrections officers need to realize they are facing a new, committed enemy,” Marcell warns. “The gang-affiliated career criminal has an overwhelming disdain for law enforcement. He’s lost any respect, any healthy fear. He’s unconcerned about the consequences of his actions. On drugs, he may be especially violent and reckless. He’s mentally willing to take a life without hesitation.

“In a contact situation, he’ll size you up quickly, physically and psychologically, looking for strengths and weaknesses. He’ll test you with intimidation and aggression. He’ll figure he’s smarter than you, and attempt to take control, often with smooth-talking manipulation or with a power-play stare down that he’s learned from incarceration.

“These people act fast. Watch their hands. Look immediately for indicators, like prison tattoos, use of prison jargon, aggressive posturing, a parole status. Gain control of any contact situation quickly. Be prepared for a violent and sudden response.

“To today’s career criminal, it’s open season on any authority figure. Don’t think your shield is going to protect you.”