Danish prisons becoming haven for gangs

As more and more hardened gang members find themselves behind bars in Denmark, the prison service is discovering that these criminals are doing an impressive job recruiting new members on the inside. The result is that the Danish prison system is experiencing some serious pressure from ongoing gang conflicts.

John Hatting, who works for the KFF union that represents civilian workers in the Danish Prison and Probation Service, says that it’s becoming virtually impossible to keep gang members from recruiting from within the prisons. “As soon as you remove the most powerful [gang] inmate, a new one shows up,” Hatting told the Berlingske Tidende newspaper.

The policy of the prison service so far has been to separate gangs into different prisons or sections of a prison. Members of the Hells Angels, Banditos, The International Club, and Black Cobra are filling many of the bunks in Denmark’s prison cells. However, due to the drastic increase in gang inmates over the past few years it has become impossible to efficiently spread the different gang members among various institutions.

Adding to this dilemma is the fact that Vridsloselille, Vestre Faengsel, and Nyborg prisons are each over a century old and in dire need of renovation. Hatting also complained that the system’s educational and rehabilitation centres are strained to the bursting point. There are just 10 career advisors and 65 teachers to help the 10,000 inmates in Danish prisons.

“We have got higher fences and harsher punishments, which could all work out very well. But these people will also be getting out again and if we want to avoid relapses, then they need personal successes, new tools for coping and a lot of education,” Hatting said.

For more see the full article at CPHPost.