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Three jailers and a sheriff's deputy were locked in cell
Published:
Jailers, deputy locked in cell
Sheriff: Inexperience, inadequate staff, antiquated jail to blame
Janie Ginocchio
paragould daily press
Published: Friday, October 22, 2010 12:53 PM CDT
Three jailers and a sheriff’s deputy were temporarily locked in a jail cell Oct. 10 while attempting to search the cell for contraband, according to a jail incident report.
At about 11:10 p.m., Cpl. C.J. Looney and Officer Shawn Jones were collecting razors from inmates when an inmate in cell D-5 rushed out and said he had to pass a note to someone in cell D-4. The inmate, Roy Maynard, tried to pass the note and pick up a small envelope used to dispense medication at the jail, according to the report. Inside the envelope was allegedly cigarette, which illegal to possess at the jail.
The envelope bore the name of inmate K. Pullen Sr., who was confined to the day room pending an investigation. Pullen denied knowledge of the cigarette.
At 11:15, Sgt. Ray Brandon asked Deputy Mike Ryles to assist him and the two other jailers in searching cell D-4 for more contraband. Ryles stood guard at the door while Looney and Jones searched the north side of the cell and Brandon searched the other side.
“Due to the lack of available light, Deputy Ryles joined Sgt. Brandon in the sleeping quarters on the south side, leaving the door unprotected,” Looney wrote in his report. Inmate Jacob Rodden ran out of the cell, closed the door and inserted the security pin in the hasp, according to the report. Rodden then locked himself in visitation booth 4, Looney wrote.
According to a letter sent to The Daily Press by an inmate who witnessed the incident from a nearby cell, the four county employees were with 14 inmates in a cell built for eight.
“These four employees were locked in cell D-4 for around 15 minutes,” the inmate wrote in the letter, which was signed by four other inmates.
Jones notified a matron who had been brought over from the women’s side and “assumed control of the pod” during the search, and she told the trustees in the next cell to remove the pin and open the door, according to the incident report.
Rodden was placed temporarily in the detox cell and put on indefinite lockdown for his actions, and Maynard was placed on a one-week lockdown for possession of the cigarette, Looney wrote. The identity of the inmate who placed the envelope outside of cell D-4 was not determined.
Sheriff’s response
Sheriff Dan Langston said he was not aware of the incident when first contacted by a Daily Press reporter.
“I usually get an overnight report [on jail incidents], but the sergeant failed to mention this,” he said in an interview Wednesday, adding there would be no disciplinary action against the jailers or the deputy.
He said jail administrator Ron Harvey is on vacation this week and he wants to wait to address the matter with staff when Harvey gets back “so we can get everybody on the same page.”
He cited the staff’s inexperience as one reason for the incident.
“We’ve got some new personnel — it’s a training facility,” he said, echoing earlier statements about the jail’s high employee turnover rate because of low salaries.
Langston also placed partial blame for the incident on the jail’s inadequate staffing levels and the “antiquated” jail design.
Current staffing for the jail is two jailers and a pod operator for the men’s side of the jail on a shift, but if a jailer calls in sick or takes vacation, the department has to scramble to fill in the gaps, he said.
“We try to get someone in for comp time or overtime, but that’s limited,” he said.
The jail’s staffing levels have been cited as a concern at least five times since 2005 by the 2nd Judicial District Criminal Detention Facilities Review Committee, most recently in a letter to County Judge Jesse Dollars dated Sept. 17.
“The jail has insufficient staff to properly perform the jail’s administrative and operational functions and to provide adequate security for the jail staff and inmates,” according to the letter.
“... [S]ecurity here is next to nothing,” the inmate wrote in his letter to The Daily Press.
The committee placed the jail on a six-month notice and was ordered to fix its deficiencies, which include overcrowding.
Langston said the jail has been understaffed since it opened, and the quorum court at the time promised to make “adjustments” that never materialized.
“Manpower is our foremost problem,” he said.
Inadequate facilities
Langston said the jail was poorly designed, and there in insufficient lighting in the cells. Other physical plant problems include the HVAC, sewer and electrical systems.
The inmate who wrote The Daily Press regarding the Oct. 10 incident also complained that the hot water heater in his cell has not worked for a week, forcing inmates to take “ice cold” showers.
Langston said he wasn’t aware of the problem, but wasn’t surprised due to the age and condition of the jail facilities.
“It’s a normal occurrence,” he said. “Normally these things are reported to Ron [Harvey], and he acts immediately to get things fixed.”
Langston said there was a recent incident in which the pod control panel “went blank” and jailers had to manually open cell doors with keys.
“If someone does a crime, we need to have a place to incarcerate them,” he said. “Some type of credible punishment. Our 84-bed facility is not it.”
At about 11:10 p.m., Cpl. C.J. Looney and Officer Shawn Jones were collecting razors from inmates when an inmate in cell D-5 rushed out and said he had to pass a note to someone in cell D-4. The inmate, Roy Maynard, tried to pass the note and pick up a small envelope used to dispense medication at the jail, according to the report. Inside the envelope was allegedly cigarette, which illegal to possess at the jail.
The envelope bore the name of inmate K. Pullen Sr., who was confined to the day room pending an investigation. Pullen denied knowledge of the cigarette.
At 11:15, Sgt. Ray Brandon asked Deputy Mike Ryles to assist him and the two other jailers in searching cell D-4 for more contraband. Ryles stood guard at the door while Looney and Jones searched the north side of the cell and Brandon searched the other side.
“Due to the lack of available light, Deputy Ryles joined Sgt. Brandon in the sleeping quarters on the south side, leaving the door unprotected,” Looney wrote in his report. Inmate Jacob Rodden ran out of the cell, closed the door and inserted the security pin in the hasp, according to the report. Rodden then locked himself in visitation booth 4, Looney wrote.
According to a letter sent to The Daily Press by an inmate who witnessed the incident from a nearby cell, the four county employees were with 14 inmates in a cell built for eight.
“These four employees were locked in cell D-4 for around 15 minutes,” the inmate wrote in the letter, which was signed by four other inmates.
Jones notified a matron who had been brought over from the women’s side and “assumed control of the pod” during the search, and she told the trustees in the next cell to remove the pin and open the door, according to the incident report.
Rodden was placed temporarily in the detox cell and put on indefinite lockdown for his actions, and Maynard was placed on a one-week lockdown for possession of the cigarette, Looney wrote. The identity of the inmate who placed the envelope outside of cell D-4 was not determined.
Sheriff’s response
Sheriff Dan Langston said he was not aware of the incident when first contacted by a Daily Press reporter.
“I usually get an overnight report [on jail incidents], but the sergeant failed to mention this,” he said in an interview Wednesday, adding there would be no disciplinary action against the jailers or the deputy.
He said jail administrator Ron Harvey is on vacation this week and he wants to wait to address the matter with staff when Harvey gets back “so we can get everybody on the same page.”
He cited the staff’s inexperience as one reason for the incident.
“We’ve got some new personnel — it’s a training facility,” he said, echoing earlier statements about the jail’s high employee turnover rate because of low salaries.
Langston also placed partial blame for the incident on the jail’s inadequate staffing levels and the “antiquated” jail design.
Current staffing for the jail is two jailers and a pod operator for the men’s side of the jail on a shift, but if a jailer calls in sick or takes vacation, the department has to scramble to fill in the gaps, he said.
“We try to get someone in for comp time or overtime, but that’s limited,” he said.
The jail’s staffing levels have been cited as a concern at least five times since 2005 by the 2nd Judicial District Criminal Detention Facilities Review Committee, most recently in a letter to County Judge Jesse Dollars dated Sept. 17.
“The jail has insufficient staff to properly perform the jail’s administrative and operational functions and to provide adequate security for the jail staff and inmates,” according to the letter.
“... [S]ecurity here is next to nothing,” the inmate wrote in his letter to The Daily Press.
The committee placed the jail on a six-month notice and was ordered to fix its deficiencies, which include overcrowding.
Langston said the jail has been understaffed since it opened, and the quorum court at the time promised to make “adjustments” that never materialized.
“Manpower is our foremost problem,” he said.
Inadequate facilities
Langston said the jail was poorly designed, and there in insufficient lighting in the cells. Other physical plant problems include the HVAC, sewer and electrical systems.
The inmate who wrote The Daily Press regarding the Oct. 10 incident also complained that the hot water heater in his cell has not worked for a week, forcing inmates to take “ice cold” showers.
Langston said he wasn’t aware of the problem, but wasn’t surprised due to the age and condition of the jail facilities.
“It’s a normal occurrence,” he said. “Normally these things are reported to Ron [Harvey], and he acts immediately to get things fixed.”
Langston said there was a recent incident in which the pod control panel “went blank” and jailers had to manually open cell doors with keys.
“If someone does a crime, we need to have a place to incarcerate them,” he said. “Some type of credible punishment. Our 84-bed facility is not it.”
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