SECURITY FIGHTS CRIME INSIDE, OUTSIDE PRISON

The drug smuggling, the gang violence and the cat-and-mouse game
between organized crime and the prison officers at the California
Institution for Men is as old as the 66-year-old prison itself. David
Bauman / The Press-Enterprise Correctional officers with the
Investigative Services Unit at the California Institution for Men in
Chino frisk inmates for drugs during a surprise search.

The only thing new is the Security Squad of the Investigative Services Unit.

It's an elite team of corrections officers, who ferret out drug
smuggling and gang activity both inside and outside the prison.

Initiated in the aftermath of the slaying of an officer last year,
the squad chips away at the organized crime that dominates life
inside the Chino prison. In turn, it makes the prison safer for many
of the inmates, correctional officers and civilians who work in the prison.

Members of the unit are also part of a multi-agency gang task force.
They help local police agencies learn about the wide reach of
prison-based gangs such as the Mexican Mafia and other statewide gangs.

"We have a lot of drugs here and that's what we're trying to
curtail," said unit leader Lt. Tom Goetz. "It leads to extortion and violence."

They wear the same olive green uniforms of other correctional
offices, but their insignia and patches are blackened to identify
them as squad members. They strive for the element of surprise, but
it's rarely with them, as the sighting of a squad member sets off a
flurry of activity among inmates.

That's how it went this month when the squad charged a
medium-security dorm where an inmate was found dead of an apparent
heroin overdose. As the squad approached Angeles Hall, a dorm for
inmate work crews, inmates rushed in from the yard to warn others
that a bust was under way. Seconds later, the 10 squad members charged in.

The dorm erupted in shouting -- most it from the officers.

"Everybody down now! On the ground!" shouted officers armed with pepper spray.

Dozens of inmates wearing sweats and boxers dropped to the ground. No
one resisted and the dorm was secured in a matter of seconds. The
officers grabbed a handful of inmates with suspected links to heroin
smuggling for strip searches. The rest were patted down and sent to
the yard where they would spend the rest of the day waiting while the
squad searched the dorm.

The goal is to figure out how the inmate died, explained Goetz. Was
it a straightforward overdose, or was he given a "hot shot," a dose
designed to kill?

"We don't know if this guy's been murdered," Goetz said. "We may go
out there and find this guy's name on a note ordering his murder."

The officers hoped to find the rest of the heroin as well.

It took hours of pat downs, flipping mattresses, sifting through
trash, books, clothes and shampoo bottles, but the squad found more
than they had hoped for.

They found a note describing the overdose along with a detailed
inventory of heroin, methamphetamine and marijuana to be smuggled
into Palm Hall, the maximum-security area of the prison.

Moments later, another officer found a syringe in a hollowed-out copy
of the religious book "Acts of Faith."

"Who knows? It might be the weapon we're looking for," said Sgt. Frank Esqueda.

As the search concluded, officers interrogated the suspects and found
the heroin, which one inmate had stashed inside a body cavity.
Another inmate was carrying a roll call -- dozens of inmate names on
a tiny scrap of paper listing their prison number, home town, gang
affiliation and monikers like "Lefty," "Misfit," "Evil" and "Casper."

"That was thoughtful of him," joked Lt. Michael Dimmit, the squad's
gang investigator.

The prison gangs use the lists to keep track of their members. The
gangs are very structured, and about 33 percent of all drug sales are
given to gang leaders, he said. In the hands of law-enforcement, roll
calls are great for identifying suspects in gang-related crimes, Dimmit said.

By monitoring phone calls, postings on MySpace.com, and with the help
of informants, the squad has already busted five visitors trying to
smuggle drugs into the prison. Though less than a year old, the squad
is making a big difference inside and outside the prison, said
Officer Randall Schiebe.

"We're lucky the warden is behind us all the way," said Schiebe,
nicknamed K9 for his uncanny ability to find contraband. "It's like a
game of cat-and-mouse, but I love it."