A series of beating deaths in the Multnomah County Detention Center (MCDC) in Portland, Oregon during the early 2000s exposed the existence of a prison guard gang called the "Brotherhood of the Strong." The BOS was created by correctional officers in Hawaii before expanding to prisons and jails on the mainland. The even had matching tattoos that said "Brotherhood of the Strong." Eventually known members of the group were fired in Multnomah County.
One BOS members, Wallace Montoya, sued the sheriff saying that discrimination against guards with the tattoo violated the First Amendment. Montoya lost.
To this days inmates from that era recall the horrors associated with the BOS and use it as an example of the culture within the MCSO. A culture that has not changed over the years.