“ So when did you GATE OUT ?’’
“ I GATED last Tuesday from P BAY .‘’
“ What was your ISSUE? “
‘’ I was a PAL with two DIRTY BOTTLES .‘’
“ What was the TERM ?’’
“ A BULLET ‘’
“ What was the original BEEF ?’’
“ I caught a sales beef for 16 months .
“ “ 8 TO THE GATE ? ‘’
“ Ya , 8 TO THE GATE.
“ “ Did ya catch any CHRONOS inside ? ‘’
“ Ya , I caught some 128’s and a couple of 115’s.
“ Any AD SEG or SHU time ? ‘’
“ Ya , one SHU term .’’
“ How many points do ya have ? ‘’
‘’ I’m sittin on 53. “
“ Did ya TIP UP inside ? ‘’
“ I got approached , but I didn’t TIP. “
“ OK let me see your INK.’’
Well , just like the title says , “ What did he say ?‘’ We’ll get to that later. First , lets talk about the first few minutes of your contact with a parolee, how to get off on the right foot and start taking charge.The use of slang terms can help you do that. The first thing you have to understand is the type of crook you are dealing with. Whether he is a dope dealer or a thief , he is first a parolee. There are two types. The inmate and the convict. The inmate is usually easy because he is too busy sniveling to give you any challenging problems. The convict is a different story.
The convict takes pride in who he is and he is not at all intimidated by us or who we are or what job assignment we have. Whether you wear a uniform or a pony tail , you are still the MAN. He is used to dealing with us no matter what form we come in and he is good at what he does. He is a predator. He’s sitting on the wire , looking at the field and waiting for lunch to move. He is confrontational and he is looking to take advantage of soft spots in your armor. First and foremost , DON’T MAKE IT PERSONAL. Keep it business. Next , start building some rapport and respect. I don’t mean take him home for Christmas , I mean show him that you know what you are doing. Also remember that a true convict has self respect. So if you get out of your unit looking like 10 pounds of potatoes in a 5 pound sack that's exactly how your going to get treated. He’s going to figure that you don’t have any respect for yourself, why should he.One of the easiest and quickest ways to establish this rapport and respect is to use slang terms in your initial questions. Dope dealers use slang and so do convicts. By using and understanding slang you can build a rapport and also communicate.
From the beginning you need to find out about the convicts history. That is where he’s been and what he’s done. Keep in mind also that you're dealing with a person who, on an average, has an 8th grade education. Don’t make the mistake of thinking this makes them stupid. It just means they are uneducated. So when you question them about their state prison time, ask the questions starting from the first time they went to prison up to the present. Some of the info that you want to know is ; Where did they do their time , for what type of crime and what happened to them inside. During this first phase of the contact start using slang. For example; If I want to ask a convict about his first time he went to prison I’ll say “ Where did you go for your first trip?’’ If I want to know the type of crime I’ll say “ What was your commitment offense ?’’ And if I want to know about what went on inside the joint I’ll say something like “ Did you catch any chronos ?‘’or “ Did you catch any 115’s or 128’s ?’’ These are disciplinary write ups. 115’s being the most serious and commonly involve violence. If I want to know when he got out I would say “ When did you gate out ? ‘’ If I want to know when he gets off parole I would ask “ When do you top out ?’’ And so on. One of the large points to be made is if you at least sound like you know what your talking about , you will probably get less of a challenge. There are hundreds of prison slang terms and just like dope slang they change. Some last and others are not used as much. Here are some good old standbys that have survived the test of TIME.
A.B....................................ARYAN BROTHERHOOD
AD SEG..........................ADMINISTRATIVE SEGREGATION
BEEF...............................WRITE UP OR CRIME
BGF.................................BLACK GUERRILLA FAMILY PRISON GANG
BULLET.........................1 YEAR PERIOD OF TIME
C/O...................................CORRECTIONAL OFFICER
CHRONO.......................INSTITUTIONAL WRITE-UP
DIRTY BOTTLE..........POSITIVE URINE TEST
DORM.............................HOUSING UNIT
EME.................................MEXICAN MAFIA
G.P...................................GENERAL POPULATION
GATED OUT................RELEASED FROM PRISON
GLEEKA.........................HISPANIC TERM FOR GANG
GREY GOOSE............CDC BUS
GUNS.............................WELL DEVELOPED ARMS
HIT...................................A KILLING
INK...................................TATTOOS
IRON...............................WEIGHTS
ISSUE.............................CRIME
LOPP..............................NEWCOMER
MIX...................................WHAT IS HAPPENING
N.F...................................NUESTRA FAMILIA
PAL..................................PAROLEE AT LARGE
P BAY.............................PELICAN BAY PRISON
P.O...................................PAROLE OFFICER
P.C...................................PROTECTIVE CUSTODY
PECKERWOOD..........WHITE BOY
PINTA............................JAIL
PRUNO.........................PRISON ALCOHOL
PUNK.............................PERVERT
RIPPED OFF..............FORCIBLE ANAL SEX
ROLLED UP...............ARRESTED OR MOVED
SHANK ........................PRISON MADE KNIFE
SHU..............................SECURITY HOUSING UNIT
SLEEVED....................ARMS COVERED WITH TATTOOS
STAFF..........................CUSTODY PERSONNEL
TERM...........................SENTENCE
TAC / TAT...................TATTOO
TAIL...............................PAROLE
TIER..............................LEVELS OR STORIES IN A BUILDING
TIPPED UP................AFFILIATED WITH A GROUP
TOPPED OFF............OFF PAROLE
YARD............................OUTDOOR REC AREA
YOKED .........................BUILT UP FROM LIFTING WEIGHTS
115..................................SERIOUS PRISON WRITE-UP
128..................................LESS SERIOUS WRITE-UP
24 AND 7........................ALL DAY EVERYDAY
602...................................INMATE APPEAL FORM
8 TO THE GATE........1/2 OF A 16 MONTH
TERM.............................CREDIT FOR WORK TIME
O.K. , like I said in the beginning “ What did he say ?‘’ Go back to the first paragraph and lets find out. So when did you GATE OUT ( get released ). I GATED ( got released ) last Tuesday from P BAY ( Pelican Bay State Prison ) What was your ISSUE ( crime ) I was a PAL ( parolee at large ) with two DIRTY BOTTLES ( positive urine for drugs ) What was the TERM ( sentence ) A BULLET ( one year ) What was the original BEEF ( crime ) I caught a sales beef for 16 months. 8 TO THE GATE ( half time for working ) Ya 8 TO THE GATE. Did you catch any CHRONOS( institutional write ups ) inside ? Ya , I caught some 128’s ( less serious offenses ) and a couple of 115’s ( most serious offenses ) Any AD SEG ( administrative segregation ) or SHU ( security housing unit ) time ? Ya , one SHU term. How many points do you have ? I’m sittin on 53. Did ya TIP UP ( affiliate with a gang or group ) inside ? I got approached , but I didn’t TIP (together in prison ) OK let me see your INK ( tattoos ).
Besides learning a ton about this convict we were able to show him that we know what we are doing. He starts to feel a little more comfortable in dealing with us and we are well on our way to getting the info that we want from this guy. To get the info we want takes good interview techniques. You don’t interview convicts the same way you interview other crooks. So that’s what we’ll talk about next time. Until then as usual , be careful.
For more info on parolee issues or a Slang Term Dictionary contact Sgt. Ken Whitley , Garden Grove P.D. via E- Mail at :info@convictsandcops.com