An investigation finds that corrections officers in Pennsylvania use physical force on people who may be unable to comply with orders due to a mental health condition.
The DA, warden, and county officials who help oversee the jail did not respond to requests for interviews about Thompson's treatment, or declined to comment.
But the practices employed by corrections officers every day in county jails can put prisoners and staff at risk of injury and can harm vulnerable people who may be scheduled to return to society within months. Defenders of these techniques say they save lives by preventing violence or self-harm, but some jails in the U.S. have moved away from the practices, saying they're inhumane and don't work.
After several hours of extreme distress, Caprioli tied his shirt around his neck and choked himself until he passed out. When corrections officers saw this, they decided it was time to respond. The four-man team brought the 150-pound Caprioli down to the floor. One of them had a pepper ball launcher — a compressed air gun that shoots projectiles containing chemical irritants.
Eventually he was taken to the hospital — where Caprioli says they assessed his physical injuries — but he didn't get help from a mental health professional. Hours later, he was back in jail, where he stayed for five days. He eventually pleaded guilty to a charge of"public drunkenness and similar misconduct" and had to pay a fine.
The problem, Rollings-Mazza says, is that people with serious psychiatric issues don't get the help they needthey are in crisis. At that point, police can be involved, and people who started off needing mental health care end up in jail. "There are some jails where they don't have that understanding or want to necessarily support us," she says."Some security officers are not educated about mental health at the level that they should be."
Morgan researches how a growing number of lawsuits are responding to the problem. Lawyers have successfully argued that demanding that a person with mental illness comply with orders they may not understand is a violation of their civil rights. Instead, jails should provide"reasonable accommodations" for people with a designated illness.
To solve the overall problem, wardens will need to redefine what it means to be in jail, Morgan says.
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