The Rise of Tactical Teams in Prison
Since Ferguson, there has been a public outcry over militarized police who shoot down African Americans on the streets of our cities, but less is known beyond prison walls about guards who regularly brutalize those incarcerated. In Illinois, there is a notorious band of guards called the "Orange Crush" who don orange jumpsuits, body armor and riot helmets to conceal their identity. They carry large clubs and canisters of pepper spray, which they use liberally. A recent lawsuit names a list of horrific abuses that includes strip searches, beatings and mass shakedowns of cells.
In the decades since the 1971 prison rebellion at Attica in New York, there has been a gradual build-up of these "tactical teams," also known as "tac teams" or Special Operations Response Teams (SORTs). Today, they are routinely used for anything from fights to reports of contraband. Only within the Illinois Department of Corrections (IDOC) have they earned the infamous name of "Orange Crush." Anyone who has been incarcerated in the men's state prison system has a story about these abusive guards.
I first heard of the Orange Crush in 2005 from my pen pal Gregory Koger, then held in isolation in Pontiac, Illinois, who described them in an article he wrote:
The "tac team" is a specially equipped team of approximately 6 officers wearing body armor, helmets, gas masks, with a shield and stick (they also wear orange jumpsuits under their body armor and hence carry the nickname "Orange Crush"). If for some reason you are asked to leave your cell and you refuse to comply, the "tac team" will come to your cell, spray a cloud of pepper spray, and then rush in to subdue you, handcuff you, shackle you, and remove you from your cell.
These teams can number from half a dozen to as many as 100 officers. They perform what are described by Koger as "cell extractions." Once individuals are removed, they perform "shakedowns," or searches of all personal belongings, often confiscating property.