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| Use of force in California jails has spiked |
| By Associated Press |
| Published: 12/08/2003 |
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The use of force by Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies to control violent inmates has spiked in the past several years, something county officials blame on budget cuts that have led to a concentration of violent offenders in fewer jails. Budget cuts have also reduced training for deputies on how to properly use force to control inmates, while taxpayers have paid a growing tab to settle excessive-force lawsuits. From 2000 to 2002, use of force by jailers rose 15 percent from 1,993 to 2,350 incidents, partially because of a rise in jail riots from 46 in 2001 to 77 last year. As of Oct. 10, 1,823 use-of-force incidents were reported this year. The use of force by jailers wielding flashlights, which contain five D-cell batteries and weigh more than a pound, rose from five incidents in 2000 to 25 last year. At the same time, inmate assaults on jail staff rose from 171 in 2000 to 217 last year. Deputies are not allowed to carry firearms while working in the jails and are allowed to carry batons only during a disturbance. Flashlights are carried in case of a power outage. Experts say most use-of-force incidents involve deputies grabbing unruly inmates or using pepper spray or pepper-spray guns to break up fights and other disturbances. They also use pepperball launchers, stingball grenades and Tasers. Merrick Bobb, the Board of Supervisors' special counsel on the Sheriff's Department, noted in a report this year that the use of pepper spray rose 111 percent since 1998. Frank H. Saunders, a consultant and expert witness on police procedures and former Santa Monica Police Department detective, said the county's jails seem to have a disproportionate amount of excessive-force incidents, but the cases are difficult for inmates to prove. The county's jail system is the world's largest, with 19,000 inmates in custody any given day and 200,000 people who cycle through each day. Because of $166 million in budget cuts, Baca has been forced to release inmates arrested or convicted of mostly nonviolent offenses after serving about 30 percent of their sentences. This has left the jail system with a disproportionate number of violent offenders behind its walls. Compounding the problem of a more violence-prone population, Dennis H. Burns, commander of the Custody Operations Division, said Gov. Gray Davis this year cut $1.7 million in funding earmarked for training. The jail system's annual budget is $438 million. |
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