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News :: Civil & Human Rights |
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Five Deaths At County Jail |
Current rating: 0 |
by Brian Dolinar
Email: brian (unverified!) |
02 Jun 2006
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Five Deaths At County Jail |
Five Deaths At County Jail
By Brian Dolinar
With the death of Quentin Larry on May 28, now five inmates have died in the Champaign County Jail over a three-year period. Individuals should not die in police custody – even if they are drug addicts. Citizens must demand an independent investigation into all five of these incidents.
Deaths in the local jails became an issue in 2004 when three suicides occurred within six months at the county jail. In the average year, eight to nine jail suicides are documented in Illinois. In 2004, jail suicides in Champaign County were one third of the total in the state.
The third suicide was particularly suspicious. Police claimed Joseph Beaver hanged himself from a telephone cord in the booking area.
Public outcry prompted Sheriff Dan Walsh to hire a mental health counselor and take precautionary measures in the downtown and satellite jails. Yet it is clear that not enough has been done.
In July 2005, one man died in police custody of natural causes. This most recent incident involving Quentin Larry, which the police are calling “drug related,” makes five deaths of individuals in police custody.
In November 2005, a rogue police officer was exposed in the local jail. Sergeant William Alan Myers is currently charged with aggravated battery and obstructrion of justice for using a Taser on an imate. Myers tased a restrained man four times in an empty cell. Investigation found that he had tased three other individuals, including one African American woman who says she was pregnant at the time.
Sheriff Walsh and State's Attorney Julia Rietz say they have pressed charges against Myers and have done all they can.
How many more must die before we see real reform in the local jails?
We don't need the new $30 million jail that both Walsh and Rietz are calling for.
We need counselors, social workers, educators, and other alternatives to mass incarceration.
Come to Court Watch meetings on Saturdays, 4pm at the Independent Media Center, downtown Urbana, Broadway and Elm, in the old post office.
Sponsored by Champaign-Urbana Citizens for Peace and Justice, Visionaries Educating Youth and Adults (VEYA), Anti-War, Anti-Racism Effort (AWARE), and the Urbana-Champaign Independent Media Center.
Contact us at lifestratinst19 (at) sbcglobal.net. |
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Retired cop knew how to get a confession!
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Demonstration Against 5 Deaths in Local Jail
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Re: Five Deaths At County Jail |
by John Hilty
jhilty (nospam) shout.net (unverified) |
Current rating: 0
02 Jun 2006
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"This most recent incident involving Quentin Larry, which the police are calling “drug related,” makes five deaths of individuals in police custody."
In other words, the county jail failed to transfer this person to the hospital when he was in need of urgent medical care. Just because a death is "drug related," doesn't mean that it was unavoidable. |
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Re: Five Deaths At County Jail |
by Accept responsibility
(No verified email address) |
Current rating: 0
04 Jun 2006
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Should the citizens of Champaign County pay to have all arrestees undergo a thorough physical examination before the jail accepts them? If they show no signs of drug impairment and the officer has no reason to suspect the ingestion of drugs, the only other recourse we have is constant surveillance and a physical examination. Has anyone considered the cost of constant surveillance (24 hours a day, 7 days a week)? As a taxpayer, I find this unacceptable. Nobody forced the inmate to ingest these drugs. If he was not in jail and at home, the same results may have occurred. We all need to accept responsibility for our actions and stop blaming others (jail staff in this instance). The inmate did this to himself. I do not feel sorry for him nor do I blame the staff at the jail. |
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Re: Five Deaths At County Jail |
by John Hilty
jhilty (nospam) shout.net (unverified) |
Current rating: 0
04 Jun 2006
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If this person had been at home, rather than jail, then there was nothing to prevent him from visiting the hospital should the need arise. However, because we was in jail and deprived of his liberty, he could not visit the hospital on his own initiative. Therefore, the county jail must take steps to insure that each person in its custody has access to adequate medical care. Failure to do this can result in unnecessary death or disability. If the county and the taxpayers are unwilling to pay for such medical services and screening, then they have no business putting people in jail in the first place. |
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Re: Five Deaths At County Jail |
by BD
BD (unverified) |
Current rating: 0
04 Jun 2006
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Correction - Joseph Beavers was the first of the 3 suicides in 2004. He allegedly hanged himself Jue 26, 2004.
1) The citizens of Urbana are already paying out beaucoup bucks to put cameras in squad cars because cops like Kurt Hjort can't keep their rockets in their pockets.
2) Quentin Larry died 36 hours after he was arrested. If he died of an alleged overdose (which is questionable) how did he get the drugs? Did he pass inspection? Did he cop it from a guard? We need to have an explanation from Sheriff Walsh.
3) I feel sorry for anyone who has no sorrow for the loss of a life. This issue clearly separates those who love life from those who justify death - whether at home or overseas.
Peace, BD |
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What the Facts Are So Far |
by historian
(No verified email address) |
Current rating: 0
05 Jun 2006
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While it is something of a stretch with what is known so far to say that Mr. Larry's death was the result of foul play by jail employees, it is abundantly clear that the jail bears some responsibility here. Every inmate, for their own protection and that of others, should be searched so that contraband -- weapons, drugs, etc -- is not brought into the jail.
"Accept responsibility" is calling on the wrong people here. It is clear from the facts as already known in this case that jailers clearly failed in their responsibility to prevent contraband from being brought into the jail. This time, unlike in the case of Kurt Hjort, someone died.
Apparently in Champaign County, you can be a total fuck-up in terms of your official responsibilities and still not face criminal charges. I would hope that a resignation is the minimal consequence for those responsible for clearly failing to properly process Mr. Larry into the jail. Once again, the supposed higher standard that personnel in the local justice system are held to turns out to be mostly "I'll scratch your back, you scratch mine" when it comes to failure to act within minimal public expectations of on-the-job performance.. |
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Re: Five Deaths At County Jail |
by anonymous
(No verified email address) |
Current rating: 0
09 Jul 2006
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Wow, I love it how you guys jump to conclusions. You show very little knowledge of the facts surrounding this case. I think the Sheriff's Office should be more straightforward with the facts pertaining to this case, because if they did you guys would have nothing to bitch about.
Prisoners are not routinely strip searched when they are brought into the jail. If they were, you all would complain about how undignified it is and you all would no doubt call for someone's resignation.
Let me give you a little insight into the drug trade. Drugs are always carried in plastic bags that are usually secreted in the genital or buttocks area. Sometimes they are swallowed with a little string tied to a tooth to make it possible to retrieve them. There is a reason that manufacturers put warnings on plastic bags signifying the dangers of suffocation and choking hazards....
I'm sure it's all "the man's" fault anyway. |
