It’s good that the FBI has launched an investigation into an altercation that left a Sedgwick County Jail inmate with a severely broken jaw and on life support. The incident occurred when Edgar Richard Jr., who reportedly is mentally ill, “started to get unruly and leave the cell†and a detention deputy attempted to stop him, according to a jail official. The severity of the injuries raises concerns about the amount of force used and whether the jail personnel are adequately prepared to handle inmates with mental health problems. The independent investigation should give the public confidence that the incident will be properly reviewed and any necessary action will be taken.
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41 Comments
Cops are trained thugs and their own gang. THIS IS POLICY! And why is the FBI bothering? They’ll (as usual) find the cop justified and sentence the inmate to a few more years in prison for “assaulting” the cop.
Swine.
Inmates that are in jail are expected to obey the orders of those in charge of the jail. If they physically resist and get hurt, that is on them. Do what you are told and you will be fine. Better yet, stay out of jail and you won’t have to worry about it.
I had a relative that was a jailer. He always had a good relationship with the inmates as he treated them like human beings.
However, he told me one time, “if an inmate gets out of line going all crazy, I might get in trouble for excessive action, but I will still be alive and walking away with my fingers and toes.” He had a point as he was making a tad more than minimum wage and worked very odd shifts.
I worked for over five years in the old Jail and can attested that I never witnessed anyone that received undo injury or unwarranted physical abuse. We used a system that with most floors it would be a trustee who was letting the inmates in and out. There was only one floor where it would be a jailer whom would let the inmates out and then there was be at least a second jailer present to assist. This helped both the jailers and the inmates. A one on one fight means there is more then likely someone is going to be seriously hurt. Also if the odds are against them, the majority of inmates are less likely to try something like taking on the jailers. When there are more then one jailer seldom if every are blows thrown, it is generally using a joint lock restraint to the point there is pain compliance.
I have only once toured the new Jail and noticed the old system no longer existed for the most part.
The jailers and inmates now have total access to one an other for the most part. I would guess for new hires that could be unsettling to say the least. I would guess this incident may have happened in the segment where the inmates are lock down and require a jailer to actually open the cells. But then there would have been remote surveillance and a timed response by other staff. It sounds to me perhaps the system had broke down in some aspect if there was enough time for serious injuries to have occurred.
God at times I really miss working in the jail! sigh…
Male sherriff’s strip searching women, jailer’s dumping paraplegics out of wheelchairs, cops arresting firefighters for rescuing people, the list goes on and on. Gone are the days of good police, we’ve got sh.it piles in a clean uniform now.
Swine.
If he’d cooperated with the Police Officers this wouldn’t have happened. Stop bashing Cops, their job is hard enough…
I can make a fairly well educated guess (been in the business) that the Sedgwick County Jail is not adequately prepared to handle people with serious mental illnesses and the jail staff is probably not trained well enough to handle them either. That’s because mentally ill people shouldn’t be put into incarceration with common criminals. That’s a formulafor disaster – at least when you’re talking about significant mental illness. (90% of the inmates have antisocial personality disorders – that’s why they’re there.) Dumping a seriously mentally ill person into jail is a “Plan B” approach a community uses when it isn’t adequately prepared to deal with mentally ill people. Edgar Richard, Jr. shouldn’t have been there. (Not that he shouldn’t have been incarcerated – just that he should have been incarcerated somewhere where his mental illness could have been addressed and where the environment would not have triggered his combative-escapist behavior.) If you want to train all the jail staff to the level of truly handling mentally ill people, you would give them a skill set that would demand a whole lot more money than they are currently being paid. (But that might not be such a bad idea, either.) The problem wasn’t the Edgar Richard vs. jail officer fight. That was the culmination of the problem. The real problem was that the seriously mentally ill Richard was placed in the wrong facility. But, I should point out that this problem isn’t unique to Sedgwick County, Kansas – it’s fairly common across the country.
Both sides on this issue would be enlightened by reading about the Stanford Prison Experiment.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanford_prison_experiment
As soon as I see that their job isn’t just collecting revenue, I’ll stop “bashing” them. The old cops of the day (the good ones) are long gone. Now all we have left are the meat headed bully and the kid’s that got picked on-and-now-have-a-vendetta cops and also, the druggies from high school that found the best way to get dope was to become a cop. Everyone’s job “is hard enough”. And now we’re going to get the guards that were at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo coming back and becoming cops…joy.
WAR – you are absolutely correct. Add to that the practice of the jail to screw up meds. The incompetance in that regard is life-threatening in a number of ways.
If all “cops are thugs and their own gang” then why is this news story an exception to the norm? If that statement about cops being thugs is universally true, then why don’t we see something like this on a daily basis? Are all the victims of regular beatings afraid of going public? Or is this an unusual case?
Without knowing the facts, all I can surmise is that one jailer lost control in a fight and used more force than would be normally expected. But…I wasn’t there and don’t have the facts, so I can’t pass judgment on what happened.
Pleefer, cops are people to, there are good cops, and not so decent cops. I’ve met enough cops to see the whole specturem. Plus there is a differnce from a prison guard and a street cop.
True about the guard/street cop. But I’m going to throw videos out here that show that it is become routine. Cops are not just people. They are supposed to be upright and elevated among the citizenry. but nope, they kill thier wives all day long, beat them all day long. And bring their shitty lives to work with them.
their.
I know there are good cops, but they are few and far between. The exception and definitely not the norm. Huge egos, mental instability and guns with a badge. Trouble.
Gotta disagree with your generalizations, Pleef. There are hundreds of WPD, Sheriff Deputies and KHP officers in the Wichita are. If your assertion were accurate, then beatings like this would be happening at least daily.
Kill their wives all day long? That is a bit of a stretch. I don’t think you can lump all cops as wife beaters and sadists. The facts just don’t bear it out. After all, in this sue happy society, “victims” would be lining up to sue, not staying quiet.
War is right, I think the mentally ill should have their own area of the jail with staff trained to deal with them and not be thrown in with the general population. When someone is paranoid and/or delusional, there is no reasoning with them and just warning them to cooperate isn’t going to do any good.
I worked in the hospital psyche units for years, we had plenty of people who were totally out of control at times, and no patient ever got hurt becasue the staff was well trained to handle these situations in a safe and humane manner. There is no reason why the jails can’t be run the same way.
Seen this?
How bout this?
Maybe this one?
Here’s one.
You can read about this tough guy.
Well the videos prove it I guess. All police officers are scum.
Either that, or someone takes isolated incidences and applies them across the board because of their own prejudices.
I wonder which is true?
I’m saying that it has become policy to intimidate and to get compliance in “creative” ways. I know there are still a few good ones left but just a few.
Tasing pregnant women? No big deal, they do it on “24″.
I know some really good cops and I’ve encountered some really bad ones. Just like many professions, the police force has more than it’s share of bad apples.
Seems like those we’ve entrusted with taking care of us…cops, priests, doctors, political leaders..are more and more the ones we have to watch out for.
I know that just the nature of police work is enough to make anyone jaded, but it’s a cop’s responsibility to get beyond that and do their job. No excuses.
Pleefer – Outalnder – I think the truth is somewhere in between. Most cops I ahve met are great people. Unfortunately there are too many bad apples. This is made worse by the ‘blue line’ where the good cops will not ‘rat out’ the bad cops.
This is NOT unique to police – we see too much of the same thing with lawyers and doctors. the professions simply do not police themselves well enough.
Mary – we wrote at tyhe same time! :)
Pleef…I am not saying abuse doesn’t happen. I am not saying all cops are angels in disguise. I just take exception to your gross generalization that all cops are out of control bullies and thugs.
Isolated incidents does not indict 100% of the people who wear a badge.
By comparison, it would be easy to say that since 3 white people committed bank robberies, all white people are bank robbers. Obviously, this kind of generalization is untrue.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rampart_Scandal while not Wichita it does police abuse does seem widespread. In Wichita it seem that WPD are more incompetent than just mere bully’s, tazing a deaf guy in his home or shooting of Matt Clay for unbuckling his seat belt.
someone tell me what’s wrong in the video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BLgk5eQQhRA
heh Tom Paine, not making fun of the Matt Clay story, but it reminded me of an Oklahoma Highway Patrolman I knew. He was a Vietnam Vet and had combat experience as an Infantryman. I asked what made him nervous about his job. He said:
(1) Women putting on make-up going down the Interstate at 80mph
(2) Cattle trailers with no license plates
(3) People unbuckling their seat belts as he approached the car (says the old style metal buckle seat belts sounded just like a weapon being cocked)
He had other stuff, some not for re-print on this forum. :D
oops that should have been buckling their seat belt…heh
Nothing wrong with that video Tom. “Nothing to see here folks, keep moving”.
Another tough guy.
I ALWAYS put my make up on while I’m driving down Kellogg…it saves lots of time. Not to worry, women can multi-task with no problem. I’ve yet to hear of any woman who was in an accident because she was putting on her mascara and driving at the same time.
Don’t these jerks know that they’re being video taped? What morons!
Pleefer,
Let me guess: A few too many unpaid parking tickets?
Police Officers have to deal with the worst of society most of their time. They place their lives in danger for your safety.
Meanwhile, you sit here making sweeping judgments about all of them based on your stereotypes.
When someone breaks into your home, please don’t call the police if your life is in danger. I wouldn’t want you to get help from the very people you seem to think are worthless…
“”" worked for over five years in the old Jail and can attested that I never witnessed anyone that received undo injury or unwarranted physical abuse. We used a system that with most floors it would be a trustee who was letting the inmates in and out. There was only one floor where it would be a jailer whom would let the inmates out and then there was be at least a second jailer present to assist. This helped both the jailers and the inmates. A one on one fight means there is more then likely someone is going to be seriously hurt. Also if the odds are against them, the majority of inmates are less likely to try something like taking on the jailers. When there are more then one jailer seldom if every are blows thrown, it is generally using a joint lock restraint to the point there is pain compliance.”"”
I was a trustee in the old jail and we did not let inmates in and out of the cells or the day room. We served the meals and swept and mopped up the catwalks and the day room and handed out the cigarette allotments to the inmates that smoked. Of course that was many years ago and I only went to jail once and I quickly learned that jail just ain’t the kind of place I want to hang out in. 72 days of that place was enough.
I was never mistreated in jail. I did what I was told to do and when I was told to do it. I did not argue with or sass the jailers. It was my fault I was there and nobody else’s. That is why I was choosen to be a trustee and had the run of the place. If inmates behave and do as they are told, rarely do they have trouble.
But many in jail are mentally ill and unable to make rational decisions…for them it’s unrealistic to think they can control their behavior all the time. As far as ANY inmate acting out, there is no excuse for a jailer or a cop to abuse anyone. Jailers and cops are (or should be) trained in dealing with those who are out of control…usually that’s why criminals are in jail in the first place. NO EXCUSES…NONE.
Pleefer, you are a loser. I don’t think I’ve heard anyone whine that much in a long time. You must be one of those 30-someting’s that lives with mom and dad in the basement and surf’s My Space all day. Or you could be one of those people that got a ticket and thought you didn’t deserve it, so now it’s “down with cop scum!”, they aren’t “doing their job and catching the bad guys”.