DannyBoyinExile

Prison gangs are a part of life in just about any prison system – and TDCJ is no exception. There are racial gangs, religious gangs, city-based gangs, and moneymaking gangs. In today’s TDCJ, there is even a gang of homosexuals, so they don’t have to miss out on the joys of gang life.
Since the 1980s, it has been the policy of TDCJ to investigate, identify, classify, and then SEGREGATE gang members, by placing them all in administrative segregation – where they can be all they can be in the privacy of their own cells, without harming anyone else.
Each unit in TDCJ has a special department called the Security Threat Group Office (STG for short). Their job is to identify the inmates of their respective units who are involved in any STG activity. They used to be known as Gang Intelligence officers (GIs, in inmatespeak), but since the gangs themselves have changed their names, ideologies, and even… ahem… genders over the years, it was only fair for TDCJ to do some renaming of their own.
It is routine for the STG people (the COs, I mean, not the gangs) to “flag” certain inmates, thereby opening an investigation into their mail, phone calls, and activities. Sadly, they are often assisted by other inmates who discreetly let them know who a particular inmate is, what they call him, and WHAT he is, as far as his gang affiliation.
At that point, they are a suspected STG member, until they are caught with some contraband letters (“kites”) or gang paperwork, or found to be talking on the phone or in the mail about their undercover activities. (Ahem – no punk intended!)
Then the STG personnel will fill out the appropriate paperwork, along with any evidence gathered (including pictures of any gang tattoos), and submit it to the State Classification Committee (SCC) to officially confirm them and send them on their way. (On their way to seg, that is!)
The SCC will usually always agree with the STG department’s recommendation – especially since evidence to corroborate their suspicions is generally included. That particular inmate will then be placed in ad-seg, in a cell by himself, for the rest of his time in TDCJ.
I know this for a fact, because (alas) I’ve been through it myself. There is only one way to be let out of seg, once you’re confirmed as a gang member. (Short of dying, that is!)
Officially, it’s called the Gang Renunciation And Disassociation program. GRAD, for short. An inmate can sign up for it, and they WILL be released from ad-seg once they complete it – but many inmates choose not to participate.
For one thing, most of the gangs themselves don’t allow it. The fact that the very guys they called their brothers just a short time before may very well be AFTER them now is a strong deterrent for many people. For another, many guys find that they have it better in seg than they ever did in GP.
And don’t forget that many people have been in seg since they STARTED confirming people, back in the 1980s! By now, they’re OG, shot-caller type dudes, who have things going their way back there. Their idea of how to do time, or how things should be done, has totally changed since then. They’d have to seriously adapt (just like I did) to fit into population in today’s TDCJ – and not all of them are willing to do that. It’s easy to get comfortable in ad-seg, where you shower, rec, and make commissary regularly – and all your meals are delivered to your cell, like room service. Sometimes even I miss it! But I’m a general population kinda guy, and I’ve honestly outgrown the gang life, so I had to leave the gangs AND the handcuffs behind in order to move forward personally. When you sign up for GRAD, the STG officers will interview you, and fill out a packet of paperwork. This is only to accurately define exactly who and what you were, and where, and (most importantly) that you’re not anymore. When you sign that paper, you officially cut your ties with whatever gang you were a part of – but I had already done so mentally, before I ever put it in writing.
At that point, you have no more contact with the STG office. (It wouldn’t exactly look good for you to be seen talking to them regularly, at any rate!) But they WILL search your cell, to see if you are secretly in possession of any gang paraphernalia, and they WILL be screening your mail and phone calls.
When I went through the program, it took a year of investigation until you were officially cleared. Then they call you to the STG office to make sure you still want to be in the program, and wait for the chain bus to ship you from your current unit (in seg) to the one where you’ll be in the GRAD program.
The program itself is pretty simple. There are three phases, which you can complete in seven or eight months, total. During the first phase, you are still in seg. But you have a TV in your cell, where you’ll watch various videos about things like substance abuse and anger management.
In the second phase, you’ll be moved to a wing containing only GRAD people, but you’ll have a cellie again (for the first time in many years, in some cases!) and will start the process of resocialization. You’ll attend classes and go to chow together – and you will realize just how socially deprived you were, after spending years locked in a cell by yourself.
Many people out there fail to realize what an impact it makes to be able to walk freely – as opposed to ad-seg, where you are required to be in handcuffs before you ever leave your cell. It’s degrading to be labeled as dangerous – even though some of us deserved it, and even though some people EMBRACED being viewed that way.
During the last phase (phase three), you are moved to a general population wing, and given a “normal” cellie, who is not part of the GRAD program. You’ll be given a job, you’ll continue going to classes, and you’ll walk to chow alongside everyone else. By then you should’ve been resocialized to a high degree – unless you refused to, and were removed from the program and sent back to seg.
In short order you’ll finish your classes, graduate the program, and receive a packet of certificates to document your accomplishments. It made me proud to hold evidence of those accomplishments in my hands, including the paper signed by the head of the STG Management Office declaring me to officially be NOT a gang member anymore.
It reminded me of the day I got confirmed and went to seg in the first place. The Warden of the Robertson Unit came to my cell, personally. He told me, “We’ve got you now, DannyBoy! You will NEVER get out of seg again, so you might as well get comfortable back here…”
Look at me now! It took some effort, and some growing up. I had to do my part, for sure. But I put all of that negativity behind me – and any other inmate in TDCJ can do the same.
We should all reach a point in our lives where we have to do some serious thinking about what is important to us, and why. We should also think about how everything in our lives benefits us, or whether it harms us. Then we have to be men enough to make the decision to get away from the people, places, or situations that are detrimental to us.
I got away from gangs, just like I got away from drugs. I haven’t gotten away from PRISON yet, but taking the GRAD program was definitely a step in the right direction.
If any of you have loved ones in a similar situation, I’d encourage them to make the same decision. My life may not be perfect, but it’s better than it was – and that’s something that anybody should want. So says DannyBoy.