Cook County Jail Dilemma: How To Deal With 'Savage Life' Gang
(CBS) -- Savage Life is what they call themselves -- a gang of about 30 Cook County jail inmates.
The sheriff's office is trying to get them under control.
Brad Curry is the Corrections Bureau Chief at the sheriff's office. He deals with the inmates who call themselves Savage Life.
"The name kind of says it all. The name is what their goal is: to have a savage life," he says at the jail's Division 9.
Curry says most are young. And he says Savage Life is a mixture of gangs that -- on the outside -- might be killing each other.
He tells the story of one inmate with a broken toilet: "They were trying to get the parts to fix the toilet. He decided it wasn't being done fast enough. He took it upon himself to put feces and urine into a bottle and sprayed down the officer when he walked in.
"He actually let the officer walk up the steps. The officer actually got up the steps, was dealing with another issue with an inmate, and on the way down he blocked the steps and started squirting him."
Many of the Savage Life inmates have been at the jail for more than two years, awaiting trial.
Most of the Savage Life inmates are in for crimes like murder -- and face long sentences, if convicted.
The jail is now looking at taking away the inmates' privilege to visit with family, unless they behave.