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| NAACP Calls For Investigation Into Christmas Day Death at Sebastian County Jail |
| By KPOM-TV |
| Published: 01/05/2004 |
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The death of a jail inmate on Christmas Day has led a civil rights organization to launch it's own investigation. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People is also asking the U.S. Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation to investigate the death of Billy Joe Slater and several other inmates who have died in the Sebastian County (Ark.) Jail. Dale Charles of the NAACP says, "Within the past two years there have been several alleged police-related civil rights violations by police in the Sebastian County Jail. The most recent death came on Christmas Day when Sebastian County Sheriff's officials say Billy Joe Slater died after a scuffle with deputies as they tried to move him to another cell. Slater's family says he is not a violent person and they don't believe he attacked anyone. The NAACP agrees, and in a press conference last Monday outside the jail they announced that they've requested that Slater's death and the deaths of several other inmates who have died in the jail be investigated by the U.S. Justice Department and the FBI. Dale Charles with the NAACP says by his calculations the jail is averaging 4 to 5 inmate deaths a year. "We don't know if it's people using excessive force, improperly trained... there's something going on wrong with this jail," Charles said. Slater's cause of death has not been determined at this time. Sheriff Frank Atkinson says the other inmate deaths in question were investigated by the Arkansas State Police. Some were ruled natural causes and some drug overdoses. |
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