Prison
Tattoos
Recognition and Interpretation
Tats, Tacs or Ink, whatever slang term you use to describe tattoos there’s one
thing you can’t get around. Tattoo recognition and interpretation is a valuable
tool when dealing with state prison parolees. A convict’s ink will tell you
three sweet pieces of info about him.Who he is, what he’s done and where he’s
been. Lets first talk about joint tats in general.
Joint ink starts out as one color. Blue. It may turn black or purple according
to the sun and the skin pigment but it usually starts out blue. If you see other
colors besides blue, or it’s variations, the tat probably is not a true joint
tat. There are two ways of giving a tat. Free hand, which most are, or machine.
Free hands a no brainer. You get some ink, usually out of a pen, and you dip a
needle, usually a straight pen, and you use the Polynesian method. That is a
series of dots to form a picture or word. These tats are crude and sloppy and
very noticeable.
The second method is the machine. A home made tat machine consists of a slot car
motor, a hollowed out ball point pin, some guitar string and a 9 volt battery.
Oh ya and the ink. The hollowed out pen is wired or taped to the motor facing
away from it. The guitar string is wrapped around the arm of the motor and run
through the pen so it sticks out about a 16th of an inch out the end. Hook up a
flashlight battery and its tat time. When the battery is hooked up, the motor
arm vibrates which moves the guitar string back and forth rapidly in and out of
the end of the pen and as long as you keep dipping the end in the ink, you can
create a tattoo. Machine ink jobs are more detailed because of the method but
also because they are usually done with stencils. Getting caught giving a tat or
getting one in the joint is a serious crono. You remember, a 115. A write up. It
spreads decease inside the institution.
OK, lets talk about the three things the ink tells you. First of all, who he is.
Many times the convict will have his name or street name on him. I have even
heard of having one’s CDC # put on. Also a loved ones name may help you ID him.
What he’s done often relates to his crimes. For example if he carries a gun, a
picture of the weapon maybe on him. If the gun is pictured from the side this
means he carries a gun. If the weapon is pointed outward, this means he is a
shooter. Where he’s been has to do with the joints he has called home. The ink
in relation to the joints he’s been in will be landmarks. Landmarks such as
walls, gun towers, cell doors or windows and bob wire. Remember to take your
time and read the ink.
Tattoos and their Meaning
Clock faces without
hands..............................................................Doing time
Tombstones with numbers on
them................................................The years they were inside
Tombstones with numbers and
RIP................................................Mourning the death of a
friend
Spider or cobb webs on elbows or
shoulders...................................Doing time
Eight
balls.......................................................................................Behind
the eight ball or bad luck
One laughing face, one crying face.....................................Play now,
pay later or my happy life, my sad life
SWP................................................................................................Supreme
white power
Peckerwood.....................................................................................White
pride ( males )
Featherwood....................................................................................White
pride ( females )
Viking
themes..................................................................................Common
Caucasian tat
Granite block
walls...........................................................................Time
in Old Folsom Prison
100 %
pure........................................................................................Pure
white or anglo
Cell window with sun or bird showing..................................Waiting to
get out
Face of female
crying........................................................................Has
someone on the outside waiting
SUR...................................................................................................Southerner
Norteano............................................................................................Northerner
Prison block wall with bricks falling outward..........................Inside
wanting to get out
PRISON GANG TATS
Mexican Mafia:
Eagle with snake in it’s mouth sitting on the letters EME.
A black hand.
“ EME “
A black hand with the letters EME in the palm." Mafia Mexicana "
“ MM “
The new trend with prison gang tats is not to get them because it ID’s them as a
gang member. Remember to read tats like a book. From left to right and from up
to down. Don’t just list a few on the face sheet to keep the nasty Sergeant of
your leg, take your time and look at them carefully. There are stories within
stories. We are seeing more and more Vietnamese parolees getting inked. They
seem to like tats that show their birthplace. Like maps of Vietnam on the back.
"Vietnamese Pride" under the neck and four dots or T’s which can mean many
different things from wealth money and guns to prison. Oriental convicts are not
using joint geography like the other groups we have mentioned.
Nuestra Familia:
“ NF “
“ NS “
A sombrero covering a machete dripping blood
Aryan Brotherhood:
Swastika covered with a three leaf clover. In the leaves of the clover are “ AB
“ and “ 666 “
“ SWP “
100 % pure
“ AB “
“ Peckerwood “
Picture of a bluebird
Black Guerrilla Family:
Dragon attacking a prison gun tower
Two hands chained over a rifle and a sword crossed
“ BGF “
Prison-Gang Artwork
Why is this stuff on this site? I don't know. I just get interested in weird things and I find out as much as I can about them. One night I got the idea to look up tattoos and the history of tattooing, and I came across this culture of prison tattoos, and one things leads to another. I have tons of this stuff.
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