FBI Investigates CA's Use of Prisoners As 'Peacekeepers'
by TChris
In the nationâs worst prisons, daily life is governed by inmates, not by correctional authorities. The strong survive and control; the weak submit or perish. And some prison guards are happy with a system that allows them to use inmates as âenforcersâ who maintain order in a chaotic environment.
While California law prohibits inmates from having âcontrol overâ one another, California's corrections chief, Roderick Hickman, endorses the practice of enlisting favored inmates as âpeacekeepers.â Hickman says âpeacekeepersâ play a useful role in a prison: they can pass messages throughout the prison, and theyâre helpful informants. Of course, criminal informants can rarely be trusted to tell the truth, and it's strange to trust inmate âpeacekeepersâ to keep the peace in a lawful way.
Critics worry that the freedom accorded peacekeepers lets them run drugs, order inmate assaults and commit other crimes. Now the practice has come under scrutiny following two California slayings in which high-ranking gang members serving as peacemakers are alleged to have played a role. ...
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