Baltimore City Scandal Continues: Guards, Gangs, Drugs, & Money

Fourteen former and current prison guards were arrested last week for allegedly aiding a notorious prison gang with drug and smuggling activities. This new round of charges comes upon the arrests last spring of thirteen corrections officers and leaders of the Black Guerrilla Family at the Baltimore City Detention Center and Central Booking and Intake Center. Tavon White, a leader of the Black Guerrilla Family, impregnated four correctional officers. An investigation had revealed certain female guards had smuggled cell phones, drugs,  and provided sex to members of the BGF gang in return for expensive gifts such as cars and jewellery. So far, nine corrections officers charged in the initial indictment and the ringleader, Tavon White, have pleaded guilty to the criminal charges.

The newest indictment revealed not only details of criminal conspiracies, but of the close relationships between gang members and correctional guards. One female officer lived with a gang member–former inmate. The inmates were given advanced notice about planned searches. Indicted corrections officers allegedly looked away when gang members attacked non-gang inmates.

Inmates, suppliers, and detention center employees were also charged in the new indictment. Six current civilian employees have been placed on administrative leave without pay.

Corrections officers were allegedly smuggling cellphones inside sub sandwiches and drugs in their underwear. Officers were earning illegally thousands of dollars each week. The indictments last spring revealed that certain female guards had received cars and jewelry.

On a personal note, part of my state prison sentence included two weeks at the Baltimore state assessment facility. On my tier, there were incidents of obvious fraternization between female officers and inmates. Late at night, more than once, I observed a female guard taking an inmate from his cell to a room at the end of the lower tier next to my cell.

The extensive searches of inmates after visits should be applied to the guards entering the prisons and jails as well. All of the new charges and past guilty pleas by corrections officers have confirmed that the weak link in prison security was not the inmates, but rather the guards of the prison security themselves.