3/20/2023 0 Comments Death spiral pepper![]() In these records, just one in 10 uses of force are in response to a prisoner assaulting someone else. The records, written by corrections officers, provide candid details on what led them to use painful control measures against people in distress. However, records obtained by WITF show that a significant number of uses of force are against people who are not hurting anyone else. The option to use physical force is essential for officers to prevent violence against others. Santa Cruz who specializes in prison conditions. “Some mentally ill prisoners are so traumatized by the abuse that they never recover, some are driven to suicide, and others are deterred from bringing attention to their mental health problems because reporting these issues often results in harsher treatment,” said Craig Haney, a psychology professor at U.C. Though their time in jail may be relatively short, those who fail to adapt can pay a heavy price. Most are there on nonviolent charges such as parole violation, theft, drunkenness and drug possession. Across the U.S., two-thirds of people in jails are there pre-trial - meaning they haven’t been convicted of a crime. But the practices corrections officers employ every day in Pennsylvania county jails can put prisoners and staff at risk of injury and can hurt vulnerable people who may be scheduled to return to society within months. ![]() Most uses of force don’t lead to death - and the coroner did not determine whether Thompson’s death was due to being pepper-sprayed and restrained. Some of them will involve mentally ill inmates due to volume.” There are always going to be use-of-force incidents at the prison. ![]() The district attorney said no criminal charges would be filed.Ĭounty officials declined to comment on Thompson’s treatment, saying Thompson’s family plans to sue the jail.ĭauphin County spokesman Brett Hambright said nearly half of the people at the jail have a mental illness, “along with a significant number of incarcerated individuals with violent propensities. They put Thompson in a restraint chair, a device that prevents a person from moving their arms or legs.Ībout 20 minutes later, an officer saw that Thompson was taking “short, abnormal breaths.” Medical staff sent him to the hospital, noting in a report that he was not breathing. Staff flooded the area, handcuffing and shackling him.Īn officer covered Thompson’s head with a spit hood, a breathable fabric that prevents fluids from escaping. An officer pepper-sprayed him in the face and tried to take him to the ground. ![]() The situation brings risks ranging from lasting psychological trauma to death.Īt the jail, when corrections officers tried to strip-search Thompson, he ran into a shower where he was “wetting himself down,” prison records show. A WITF investigation found that almost one in three uses of force from 25 jails during the last three months of 2021 involved a person who was having a mental health crisis or who had a diagnosed mental illness. Thompson would soon be locked in a physical struggle with corrections officers - one of 5,144 such “use of force” incidents that occurred last year in Pennsylvania county jails. Here, he was expected to comply with orders - or be forced to. With that decision, Thompson went from being a mental health patient to a Dauphin County Prison inmate. ![]() A mental health specialist working with the county prison said Thompson should be sent to a hospital for psychiatric care.īut at the hospital, a doctor ran some tests and cleared him to return to jail. When police found Ishmail Thompson, he was standing naked outside a Dauphin County hotel, where he had just punched a man. This story includes descriptions of violence and self harm. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |