wila n.— «At the county level, gang members use letters on tiny scraps of paper called wilas, a slang term that translates to tiny writing. The wilas are hidden in all sorts of places—shoes, clothing lining, body cavities—and move between...
wila n.— «Incarcerated Nuestra Familia members and associates communicated with each other and with those outside of penal institutions via inmates passing into or out of correctional facilities and prison visitors. Coded letters, “micro...
matrixing n.— «The early jail releases are occurring more frequently because the county doesn’t have enough money to keep everyone accused of a crime behind bars. Instead, the county uses a complex method called matrixing to sort through...
fifi towel n.— «A Fifi towel is a homemade vagina. Simply take a small towel, fold it in half, and roll it into a tight cylinder. Then keep it that way using elastic bands. To make the vagina realistic, inmates insert a rubber glove into one of the...
dump truck n.— «“One of the cruel ironies is that on the tier in any prison, the person most inmates name as responsible for them being there is ‘the dump truck P.D.,’” said David Coleman, the public defender in Contra Costa County...
gate v.— «Gating means that the parole board sends back to prison inmates going out of the prison gates on mandatory supervision. The law requires that prisoners who have served two-thirds of their sentence be released to serve the last...