Associated Press
HOUSTON — Guards at the Harris County Jail, one of the largest jails in the United States, have rarely lost their jobs or faced prosecution for allegations of attacking inmates, according to a newspaper review.
Nearly half of the more than 1,000 disciplinary reports reviewed by the Houston Chronicle led to discipline for jail staff, but not a firing or criminal charge.
In one 2013 incident, six jailers beat up an inmate in his cell, spraying him with pepper spray, knocking him to the ground of a corridor, and then pummeling and kicking him. The beating was investigated after it was caught on video.
The six jailers were suspended, but none were fired or charged.
“I thought I was going to black out, get my nose broken, or get a concussion,” said the former inmate, Steven LaBoy, who was serving a 60-day sentence for carrying a switchblade. “And at the same time, I couldn’t breathe.”
Another former inmate compared the jail to an “animal shelter.”
“You do anything - you get punished, you get pepper sprayed,” said Jamarcus Hill, who was jailed for auto theft two years ago. “You got to fight for your food, you even have to fight for your shoes.”
At least 70 inmates have died in the jail since 2009. Civil-rights advocates say a federal investigation is required to fully examine its problems, which they say are symptoms of overcrowding and policies on how bond is granted to defendants awaiting trial. The Justice Department previously found faults with the jail in 2009.
“Looking at the issues we have seen come out of there, it completely warrants a Department of Justice probe to see where things are slipping through the cracks,” said Amin ALehashem, a lawyer for the Texas Civil Rights Project.
Harris County Sheriff Ron Hickman says he’s raised the minimum age to be a jailer and re-instituted in-person training in place of a virtual program for new hires.
Hickman has clashed with his predecessor, Adrian Garcia, over changes Garcia made in training and other decisions involving the jail, including hiring a consulting firm for $1.4 million to deal with the previous federal findings.
“The impact of hiring a young, immature work force will be felt for years to come,” Hickman said. “They do get on-the-job training. They do get senior people to work with. But when you’re building the base of their value systems, proper training is absolutely essential. And relying primarily on virtual training does not establish that.”