Police keep eye on supremacists for fallout

Despite the crackdown on that white supremacist prison gang, state corrections officials insist the gangs have not been dismantled. In response, authorities monitor the gang members and document their tattoos, often symbols of the level of their devotion to their beliefs.

"We try to do what we can to manage the gangs, regardless of what they are," said Patterson, the Corrections chief. "We try to house them in such a way it minimizes the risk."

Victim well liked

Corrections officials said Anderson, the officer killed during Monday's escape, was well liked at the prison, even by the inmates.

"We're doing as well as can be expected," Robyn Williams, Department of Corrections deputy director of operations, said Tuesday. "It's tough for everyone, staff and offenders alike."

Corrections officials said it is too soon to tell how the death of the officer will play out among the prison's white supremacist gangs. The inmates, authorities said, were keeping quiet about Allgier.

"It's dependent a lot on where he stood with them before, where he stood with them now," Williams said. "It's not like they're bursting at the seams to tell anyone."

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Contributing: Rebecca Palmer

E-mail: bwinslow@desnews.com