(2 of 2)
The leaders also agreed to crack down on the prison rumor mill. "Before," said Rudy, "if a guy saw a Stone [Black P. Stone] with a knife, he'd go and tell the Ds [Disciples]." Added Andrew ("Candy Blue") Brooks, boss of the Vice Lords: "Now when a dude makes that kind of charge, he is brought before the leaders. Now the rumor man has to validate his stories." Finally, a drive was organized by the leaders to dispose of all "shanks" (knives). "What we have here now," Earl Moore said, "is a sort of United Nations to settle disagreements. The U.N. folks have their SALT talks; we have our shank talks."
The leaders were not eager to relinquish all organizational individuality, and Petrilli was reluctant to press too hard. Members continue to give gang salutes. "The guys still identify as members," admitted Rudy, "but it's more like belonging to a political party."
Despite all the talk about detente, things are not settled at Pontiac. No one has yet been charged in the knifings during the mess-hall scrape, and between 25 and 30 cons believed to have been most involved are still isolated in a special cell unit. Petrilli has long been criticized by guards and others for working with the gangs instead of trying to break them up. But, he argues, "the gangs didn't form here. The men have their own leadership−they came in with it." He is still committed to the delicate task of trying to use that structure to restore peace at Pontiac.