Why do people keep dying in police custody?

[ksen]

http://www.vice.com/read/ralkina-jo...-of-color-to-die-in-an-american-jail-cell-727

Dying while in police custody really shouldn't be a thing.

eta: that's four this month that we know about

 

[AthenaAwakened]

http://www.vice.com/read/ralkina-jo...-of-color-to-die-in-an-american-jail-cell-727

Dying while in police custody really shouldn't be a thing.

eta: that's four this month that we know about

Here's another

http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwo...le-police-custody-family-seeks-justice-161204

On July 6, 24-year-old Sarah Lee Circle Bear of Clairmont, South Dakota, was found unconscious in a holding cell in Brown County Jail in Aberdeen. Circle Bear was jailed on a bond violation.

Witnesses stated that before being transferred to a holding cell, Circle Bear pleaded to jailers that she was in excruciating pain. Jail staff responded by dismissing her cries for help, telling her to “knock it off,” and “quit faking.” Inmates cried out for the jail staff to help Circle Bear, to which they eventually responded by picking her up off of the floor, dragging her out of the cell, and transferring her to a holding cell. Circle Bear was later found unresponsive in the holding cell.


Read more at http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwo...le-police-custody-family-seeks-justice-161204

 

[tupac chopra]

Is it because Police seldom are held accountable if they are negligent?

 

[credoconsolans]

Is it possible it's always been like this but in the internet info age it's being more widely reported?

 

[Loren Pechtel]

Is it possible it's always been like this but in the internet info age it's being more widely reported?

Partially--we are seeing more reporting.

Note, though, that half of their cases are suicide--I don't believe the police have any obligation to prevent suicide so I don't blame them for these.

There is the problem of inadequate medical care, though. Prisoners so often fake medical complaints that real ones get missed.

 

[bleubird]

You may believe that,but you are wrong.Sheriffs Departments are responsible for the safety of all that they detain.

 

[AthenaAwakened]

Is it possible it's always been like this but in the internet info age it's being more widely reported?

Partially--we are seeing more reporting.

Note, though, that half of their cases are suicide--I don't believe the police have any obligation to prevent suicide so I don't blame them for these.

There is the problem of inadequate medical care, though. Prisoners so often fake medical complaints that real ones get missed.

Loren, you do know that suicide is illegal in some places, right?
In some U.S. states, suicide is still considered an unwritten "common law crime," as stated in Blackstone's Commentaries. (So held the Virginia Supreme Court in 1992. Wackwitz v. Roy, 418 S.E.2d 861 (Va. 1992)).


So, uh, yeah. Actually, the police do have an obligation to prevent suicide.

 

[Togo]

Incarcerating people involves a duty of care to ensure their wellbeing - including adequate medical care and suicide prevention.

it's not just a good idea, it's the law.

 

[AthenaAwakened]

At Least 5 Black Women Found Dead In Jail Since Mid-July

 

[Tom Sawyer]

Well, at least they're not dying out in the street where traffic could get tied up while they pick up the body and maybe need to hose down the road. That's something.

 

[Bronzeage]

The answer to the question of why people die in police custody is probably second or third on the list of universal obviousness.

Happy, healthy, well adjusted people, are poorly represented in the incarcerated population.

To continue on the trail of the obvious, this means the person who is arrested and put in a temporary holding cell, isolated from other people, is likely to be under the highest level of stress a human being may ever experience. It is difficult for the happy, healthy, and well adjusted among us, to imagine the depth of despair a person may experience at a time like this.

Health, especially mental health is a big factor. It is often the main reason this person finds them self in jail. A small dispute becomes a larger one and someone is arrested for disturbing the peace. Next stop, a small room with no window and no one hears anything you say. Again, it's difficult for the HHWA to understand, but the idea of simply taking off your pants, tying a pants leg around your neck and checking out seems like a viable option.

The process of arresting a citizen can be a physically stressful experience for a person. In the past few decades, we have come to recognize Post Traumatic Stress Disorder as a real thing. Of course, this only applies to people who are doing good things, such as soldiers, public safety officers, and the like. The allowances given to people whose mental state is altered by dangerous and stressful experiences are not extended to people who have been handcuffed and shoved head first into the back seat of a patrol car.

There was a time when the nervous veteran, who flinched when a door slammed, or yelled in anger when someone touched him from behind, was told to calm down and deal with it. Most dealt with it by alcohol or drugs, which numb the senses and slow the reactions. A person such as this, may be at greatest risk when the alcohol or drugs are wearing off, and none is immediately available.

The segment of the population found in holding cells does not get the allowances we give other PTSD sufferers and there is no alcohol or drugs in a holding cell. The effects of minor physical ailments and injuries are magnified. A blow to the head, combined with the expected high blood pressure, can lead to any number of fatal conditions. Blood sugar goes very high in stressful situations. A diabetic person, especially an untreated diabetic is especially at risk.


That's why people keep dying in police custody.

 

[ksen]

@bronzeage - Ok, but is that acceptable? I don't think it is. When the State takes someone into custody they've also taken on the responsibility for their wellbeing. That part seems to be missing in these cases we are hearing about.

 

[AthenaAwakened]

People keep dying in police custody because we as a nation have taken an attitude of "lock 'em up and throw away the key." We do not demand that jailers actually care for the people in their charge. I don't mean set in the cell and hold an inmate's hand, but just an hourly check. Just looking in the cell. But once a person is put in jail, we don't think s/he's a person anymore.

 

[Bronzeage]

@bronzeage - Ok, but is that acceptable? I don't think it is. When the State takes someone into custody they've also taken on the responsibility for their wellbeing. That part seems to be missing in these cases we are hearing about.

That's a different question.

There is a sort of moral imperative which says we are responsible for the unintended consequences of our actions, so what happens to someone after we put them in a box, is our responsibility.

Responsibility is a blurry thing. Pro-lifers are often accused of having no concern for the wellbeing of the born. People who are upset because a person with mental problems hangs themself in a cell, pay the taxes which built the jail and pay the jailer. How much more would we be willing to pay, if more money would solve the problem?

It goes both ways. We are outraged when someone dies in a cell, but we are also indignant when Dylann Roof was brought a cheeseburger during his interrogation.

 

[ksen]

@bronzeage - Ok, but is that acceptable? I don't think it is. When the State takes someone into custody they've also taken on the responsibility for their wellbeing. That part seems to be missing in these cases we are hearing about.

That's a different question.

Not really since that is where I was going with the question in the OP. Maybe I should have spelled it out a little more clearly.

There is a sort of moral imperative which says we are responsible for the unintended consequences of our actions, so what happens to someone after we put them in a box, is our responsibility.

A "sort of" moral imperative?

I'd offer that is one of our highest moral imperatives.

Responsibility is a blurry thing.

Not in the case of the State taking someone into custody. It's actually crystal clear where the responsibility ought to lie.

Pro-lifers are often accused of having no concern for the wellbeing of the born. People who are upset because a person with mental problems hangs themself in a cell, pay the taxes which built the jail and pay the jailer. How much more would we be willing to pay, if more money would solve the problem?

How much more would it cost to have someone already on duty do a physical cell check every hour or so?

How much more would it cost to have a physician or nurse practicioner make sure prisoners have access to their prescription medications?

It goes both ways. We are outraged when someone dies in a cell, but we are also indignant when Dylann Roof was brought a cheeseburger during his interrogation.

Well, people need to get over that. Even horrible criminals need to eat and if we've taken them into custody it's our duty to feed them.

 

[laughing dog]

It goes both ways. We are outraged when someone dies in a cell, but we are also indignant when Dylann Roof was brought a cheeseburger during his interrogation.

"We" were not also indignant when Mr. Roof was fed during his interrogation.

 

[Bronzeage]

It goes both ways. We are outraged when someone dies in a cell, but we are also indignant when Dylann Roof was brought a cheeseburger during his interrogation.

"We" were not also indignant when Mr. Roof was fed during his interrogation.

Of course we are. The "not me" disclaimer is no more valid than the "no all blank" protests.

 

[laughing dog]

"We" were not also indignant when Mr. Roof was fed during his interrogation.

Of course we are. The "not me" disclaimer is no more valid than the "no all blank" protests.

You may think you are royalty, but you are wrong. I saw no indignation over the feeding of Roof. None.

 

[ronburgundy]

Partially--we are seeing more reporting.

Note, though, that half of their cases are suicide--I don't believe the police have any obligation to prevent suicide so I don't blame them for these.

There is the problem of inadequate medical care, though. Prisoners so often fake medical complaints that real ones get missed.

Loren, you do know that suicide is illegal in some places, right?
In some U.S. states, suicide is still considered an unwritten "common law crime," as stated in Blackstone's Commentaries. (So held the Virginia Supreme Court in 1992. Wackwitz v. Roy, 418 S.E.2d 861 (Va. 1992)).


So, uh, yeah. Actually, the police do have an obligation to prevent suicide.

The illegality of suicide is an absurd violation of human rights. It should not be illegal, and thus no one should be legally obligated to prohibit someone from carrying it out. Loren said "I don't believe...", thus implying he was expressing his opinion on whether police should have such an obligation, not making a statement of fact regarding what the current law is, since current law has nothing to do with what the law ethically should be.

In addition, even under current law where suicide is illegal, the police obligation should be limited to cases where the evidence is imminent threat of suicide is so strong that if the person was not in police custody, the person's family would be obligated to have the person committed to a hospital to be put under watch.

Given that most reasonable people don't support the illegality of suicide, lumping such cases in with cases of actual refusal to provide requested medical care is guaranteed to undermine the cause of raising public support for addressing legit cases of criminal neglect or assault.

 

[Bronzeage]

Of course we are. The "not me" disclaimer is no more valid than the "no all blank" protests.

You may think you are royalty, but you are wrong. I saw no indignation over the feeding of Roof. None.

Then you weren't paying attention.