Two stories on two law enforcement departments in which it appears the Department of Justice consent decrees -- which promise to reform police departments – are not profiting communities. There’s ample evidence that consent decrees generally don’t succeed. At the same time, the MAGA contingent has a plan to get rid of consent decrees altogether, a cause taken up by far-right and Democrat sheriffs alike.
In Virginia, two former Warren County deputies were charged with felony homicide for killing a 77-year-old man with dementia during a 2022 traffic stop.
In Knox County, Tennessee, the sheriff’s office failed to release body cam video of an armed raid in 2021. Instead, the sheriff lied and said they didn’t have any. The article points to the lack of oversight for sheriffs’ offices nationwide as well as the complete lack of accountability for sheriffs in Tennessee (as in most states). The journalist wisely asked, “If the sheriff’s office is willing to withhold footage from prosecutors, they asked, then who else is it withholding it from?”
Six Mississippi sheriff’s deputies were sentenced to prison for torturing a man during a no-warrant raid. The Rankin County Sheriff claims that he had no knowledge about the activities of the so-called “Goon Squad” and has faced no repercussions. The local NAACP chapter has called for the sheriff’s resignation.
Two Michigan sheriffs are being sued for intentionally limiting family visits in order to make a profit from video vastation.
No one knows how many people die in jails. Keri Blakinger on the high death toll in Los Angeles County, an alarming trend on top of the department’s refusal to address deputy gangs.
Sheriff Chad Bianco keeps lying about Prop 47 in California, but refuses to talk about why his department can’t seem to solve crimes.
Two years later, the San Bernardino Sheriff’s Office released video showing that deputies she and killed 15-year-old Savannah Graziano, the victim they were claiming to be “saving.” We still don’t know the names of the involved officers nor what consequences they will face.
ICYMI
This week I wrote about “white rural rage” as well as thoughts on coverage of “constitutional sheriff” media events.
Also, you can preorder my book! I am starting to book events for the fall, so let me know if you have any interest in listening to me talk about sheriffs.
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. Hopefully we can get thru our difficult everyday lives and never experience the bad or the ugly part of the people who are sworn to protect us.
Thanks so much for your work. I live in Klickitat County WA, home of "Constitutional Sheriff" Bob Songer and his MAGA /Constitutional sidekick, Loren Culp, who was hired to manage the county jail last year. So far, we have had one inmate commit suicide after begging to be taken to the hospital because he was going through withdrawal from fentanyl. Then we learned that a mentally distressed woman was held for several months, refusing on 92 occasions to shower, clean or take her meds. She was eventually transported to the hospital where the staff reported that the stench from this woman was unlike anything they had experienced. Her head was covered in lice and her body covered in infected wounds likely from scratching insect bites. They had to peel off layers of what likely was a fungal mass on her body. Both of these victims were of the nearby Yakama nation. Also last year, a young woman "drowned" in a local river. She went there with a man, a neighbor heard arguing and hours later the young woman was found dead in the river. The deputies mangled the entire investigation including not interviewing the man who was with her. Last week we had a double homicide committed and the shooter called Sheriff Songer's personal phone rather than the police or 911.
Two of our county commissioners have created a risk management inquiry since the family of the young man who died has filed a $20 million lawsuit. Two weeks ago they announced they were considering closing our county jail due to its problems. The only control they have is the fiscal aspect. The Sheriff was shocked that somebody dared consider taking "his jail." For weeks he was given the opportunity to speak about the problems with the jail during the weekly meetings and each time, he became defiant and raged against the "Songer Haters" who are out to get him. A county employee from the Sheriff's office sent an email from the county email system to the 200 plus "Posse" members to show up at the commissioner meeting and the meeting was packed (online and in person). A three-hour public comment session ensued and though some of it was helpful, a good chunk of it was personal attacks on the commissioners and insults. At one point, a woman had to be restrained because she was headed up the commissioners' table to the female commissioner leading the investigation. Oregon Public Broadcasting has been reporting on the problems with both Songer and Klickitat county sheriff's department. https://www.opb.org/article/2024/04/07/analysis-shows-klickitat-county-jail-owes-considerable-debt-to-local-hospital/