DEA forgets man, left to rot in a holding cell for days

[SVPD]

The level of incompetence displayed here is beyond astounding. What is astounding to me is that there was, according to Mr. Bean, only a daily count.

A daily count is inadequate. At the station I work at, we count arrestees 3 times daily, at shift change, and the outgoing agents do not go home until each and every alien is accounted for. If that means they are there for 6 hours overtime, they are there fore 6 hours overtime. Period.

When I was a corrections officer in Ohio, counts were (IIRC) 7 times daily, and you had half an hour to have an accurate count in to the Highway Patrol. You did not clear count until the highway Patrol cleared it for the entire state. In other words, every single prisoner on the entire ODRC had to be accounted for before a single inmate could move, and there was half an hour to do it. If a prison was one minute late counting inmates, the warden (at a bare minimum) got called at home.

Regardless of any other discussion of correctional facilities int he United States, one thing that is absolutely unacceptable is losing count of an arrestee. Regardless of anything else, once they are in your custody, they are yours. You damn well better know exactly where they are at any given time. There is no excuse whatsoever for forgetting an arrestee or inmate.

that said, White Haven, everything KS said stands. Don't be trying to pretend this is an example of things being done 'right' and other cases being 'wrong'.

[Mr Bean]

The level of incompetence displayed here is beyond astounding. What is astounding to me is that there was, according to Mr. Bean, only a daily count.

A daily count is inadequate. At the station I work at, we count arrestees 3 times daily, at shift change, and the outgoing agents do not go home until each and every alien is accounted for. If that means they are there for 6 hours overtime, they are there fore 6 hours overtime. Period..

You missed my second point where I got clarification, there were not only a single daily count but there was the following failed checks

1. The check in process, Mr Chong did not complete the check in process as he was not charged. The person I spoke to is not involved in check in's in any way except to know they exist and this is where identities should be taken for the purposes of roll call and inmate tracking.

2. Solitary confinement heath and welfare checks. Every four hours a guard is supposed to check every person in solitary to ensure they are still alive. Every cell is checked regardless of if someone is in there.

3. Roll call checks, lights on, lights out twice a day full roll call is taken and every cell in the holding facility names and numbers should be matched to prisoners

4. *NEW, food checks, as this is a holding facility and not a proper prison food is typically in cell (There is a small caf of some kind again no good information on how or if prisoners are feed there).

So there are a minimum of eight times each day when this should have been caught. When roll call came and a prisoner without a number was found in a cell this should have been caught, when heath and welfare checks found someone in a cell supposed to be empty this should have been caught, when evening roll came this should have been caught. This happened for four days in a row and the error (On a heath and welfare check) was found on day 5, meaning 14 shifts had passed between when Mr Chong was put in that cell to when someone realized that cell was supposed to be empty and contained someone.

[SVPD]

Yes, I did miss that. My apologies. This only escalates the unbelievable level of negligence and ineptitude displayed here.

[Mr Bean]

Yes, I did miss that. My apologies. This only escalates the unbelievable level of negligence and ineptitude displayed here.

No arguments here

[PeZook]

I don't mean to imply that you don't realize any of this, but it's not enough to just call it solitary confinement, as unpleasant as five days of that would be. Dying of dehydration is an incredibly unpleasant way to go, never mind dying of dehydration all alone in a small room, covered in urine with shards of glass stuck in your throat and lungs, and of course having no way of knowing if anyone would ever find you before you were dead. I keep thinking of being in that situation, feeling like I was going to die knowing that I wouldn't get to say goodbye to my girlfriend or my family, and knowing that it wasn't some psychotics or terrorists responsible but my own damn government. Speaking personally, that would leave a serious mental scar. Anyone who thinks that's a walk in the park needs some reality slapped into them, hard.

Yes, I know. My point is that you don't need any additional abuse to break people by locking them in a tiny box with nothing to do, and even solitary confinement with food, a toilet and enough space to stretch your legs is considered serious punishment in most prisons to the point that it gets plenty of convicts to behave out of fear (of course not all, and sometimes it is done to protect the inmate, but you get the idea).

Not giving them anything to eat is basically a sadistic bonus, something that Nazis would do (of course, they did it on purpose, not "merely" out of unbelievable negligence). The KGB merely locked people in a tiny box, and it was still pretty effective in making them confess to pretty much anything.

But we all know communists are weak and any red blooded American would've withstood such pansy-ass "torture" with gusto and then spat tobacco in Major Ivan's eye!

Or some people think like that, at least.

[edaw1982]

I wonder how long after this, will get the headline "Former DEA Agent* Dickhead McFucktard died of lead poisoning."

*(everyone from the alphabet soup groups like to call themselves 'Agent' right?)

Is there any sign this was a case of "Lets spook the bastard" gone horribly wrong? Or was it simply a case of "Uh oh, Spagettio!"

[Aaron MkII]

Probably just simple incompetence, but yeah, I'm sure he's going to go down in a hail of lead, at the hands of a guy who just got handed millions.

[Mr Bean]

Aaron, it's not one guy there is not one person to put the blame on, at the basic minimum this incident require nine people not do to their jobs. I'm not sure you grasped the scope of this fuckup yet.

[Aaron MkII]

Well I was responding to the guy above me but yeah, not all that familiar with how things like this are run.

[Simon_Jester]

I wonder how long after this, will get the headline "Former DEA Agent* Dickhead McFucktard died of lead poisoning."

*(everyone from the alphabet soup groups like to call themselves 'Agent' right?)

...What the hell are you talking about? Do you think all federal agencies consist of murderous vindictive idiots? The DEA guys who get kicked out over this have a black mark on their resume the size of a house, but there are a lot of differences between law enforcement and Mafia families.

[edaw1982]

I wonder how long after this, will get the headline "Former DEA Agent* Dickhead McFucktard died of lead poisoning."

*(everyone from the alphabet soup groups like to call themselves 'Agent' right?)

...What the hell are you talking about? Do you think all federal agencies consist of murderous vindictive idiots? The DEA guys who get kicked out over this have a black mark on their resume the size of a house, but there are a lot of differences between law enforcement and Mafia families.

A dishonoured Agent taking their own sidearm to themselves to escape the shame and black-listing. That is what I was implying, rather than "Agents #1234 dies in a Drug-bust, shot from behind...no foul play is suspected at this time."
Although I suppose if they were going to suicide themselves, it would be in a way that would garuntee their family to get the insurance.

Still, I suppose I should've tagged on a sarcastic little smiley on comment somewhere to show I wasn't being too serious.

[edaw1982]

I wonder how long after this, will get the headline "Former DEA Agent* Dickhead McFucktard died of lead poisoning."

*(everyone from the alphabet soup groups like to call themselves 'Agent' right?)

...What the hell are you talking about? Do you think all federal agencies consist of murderous vindictive idiots? The DEA guys who get kicked out over this have a black mark on their resume the size of a house, but there are a lot of differences between law enforcement and Mafia families.

A dishonoured Agent taking their own sidearm to themselves to escape the shame and black-listing. That is what I was implying, rather than "Agents #1234 dies in a Drug-bust, shot from behind...no foul play is suspected at this time."
Although I suppose if they were going to suicide themselves, it would be in a way that would garuntee their family to get the insurance.

Still, I suppose I should've tagged on a sarcastic little smiley on comment somewhere to show I wasn't being too serious.

As to the 'Alphabet Soup' thing.
Isn't that the nickname these FBI, DEA, CIA..etcetera get called?

[Simon_Jester]

A dishonoured Agent taking their own sidearm to themselves to escape the shame and black-listing. That is what I was implying, rather than "Agents #1234 dies in a Drug-bust, shot from behind...no foul play is suspected at this time."
Although I suppose if they were going to suicide themselves, it would be in a way that would garuntee their family to get the insurance.

Still, I suppose I should've tagged on a sarcastic little smiley on comment somewhere to show I wasn't being too serious.

So basically "huff puff lead poisoning suicide huff puff" Internet crap then.

[Dalton]

A dishonoured Agent taking their own sidearm to themselves to escape the shame and black-listing. That is what I was implying, rather than "Agents #1234 dies in a Drug-bust, shot from behind...no foul play is suspected at this time."
Although I suppose if they were going to suicide themselves, it would be in a way that would garuntee their family to get the insurance.

Still, I suppose I should've tagged on a sarcastic little smiley on comment somewhere to show I wasn't being too serious.

So your solution is honorable suicide? Maybe they should go into a little room with a wakizashi?

[Jaepheth]

Update: Agents responsible will get a slap on the wrist and a stern talking to

DEA agents jail student 5 days with no food, water; get slap on wrist

Daniel Chong was swept up in a 2012 DEA raid on his friends' house, where he had gone to smoke marijuana.
(K.C. Alfred / AP)
By Timothy M. Phelps

Federal agents responsible for leaving a 23-year-old UC San Diego engineering student in a holding cell for five days without food or water received only reprimands or short suspensions from the Drug Enforcement Administration, according to the Justice Department.

Daniel Chong was swept up in a 2012 DEA raid on his friends' house, where he had gone to smoke marijuana. After an interrogation, he was told he would be released.

But the agents responsible forgot about him, according to a Department of Justice Office of Inspector General report last summer, leaving him to drink his own urine to stave off dehydration.

The Justice Department, in a letter to members of Congress obtained by the Los Angeles Times, said that “what happened to Mr. Chong is unacceptable” and that “the DEA’s failure to impose significant discipline on these employees further demonstrates the need for a systemic review of DEA’s disciplinary process.”

Chong, who was never charged with a crime, was kept in total isolation with his hands handcuffed behind his back in a windowless cell with no bathroom, calling out periodically for help. Midway through the ordeal someone turned off the light in his cell, leaving him in darkness.

When he was finally discovered he was delirious, with serious respiratory and breathing problems. He was hospitalized for four days, and he and his lawyers said at a news conference last summer that he underwent intensive therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder. The department paid Chong a $4.1-million settlement.

The Inspector General Report said that three DEA agents and a supervisor bore primary responsibility for Chong’s mistreatment and that the DEA San Diego Field Division lacked procedures to keep track of detainees. They were not named in the report.

The Department of Justice letter said that DEA officials forwarded a report on the incident to a disciplinary board, the Board of Professional Conduct, without conducting its own investigation. The board issued four reprimands to DEA agents and a suspension without pay for five days to another. The supervisor in charge at the time was given a seven-day suspension.

This is not the first time that DEA disciplinary procedures have been called into question. Last month House Oversight Committee members expressed outrage that then-DEA Administrator Michele Leonhart had not seriously punished agents involved in sex parties with prostitutes in Colombia. They received suspensions of two to 10 days.

Leonhart, under pressure from the Obama administration, announced her retirement April 22. Former Atty. Gen. Eric H. Holder Jr. ordered a review of DEA disciplinary procedures.

“The Department of Justice has serious concerns about the adequacy of the discipline that DEA imposed on its employees,” in the Chong case, said Patrick Rodenbush, a Department of Justice spokesman, in a statement.

He said that Department of Justice’s Office of Professional Responsibility “will make recommendations on how to improve the investigative and disciplinary processes for all allegations of misconduct at DEA.”

[Thanas]

Are you fucking kidding me? The guy nearly died and has most likely permanent health problems due to their fuckup. And all they get is a "don't do it again"? Bullshit.

[Mr Bean]

Are you fucking kidding me? The guy nearly died and has most likely permanent health problems due to their fuckup. And all they get is a "don't do it again"? Bullshit.

Cost the department 4.1 million dollars + an unknown amount of lawyer time, court fee's and bad press.

Well that's a five day suspension, I know for a fact if I broke one of the half million dollar MRI's at work the first question from my boss would be "How" and the first statement would be "Your fired". But shame I don't work for the DEA, heck I could small all of the Hospitals MRI and still have a million and change left over.

But hey it's not like they gundecked the logs for not one shift but ten to fifteen shifts which means every single shift had to come in look at the prisoner count, count the cells, sign off on the fact they had done the prisoner check, sign off on the heath and wellness check for every single prisoner for day after day AND lie on the other wellness reports (IE was prisoner 1153 Feed y/n) multiple times per day for five days.

That much neglect shows not a few bad apples but a top to bottom broken system. There are so many checks in place to prevent exactly this situation and if all of them failed that means that jail needs to be shut down, the agents fired and criminal charges launched.

[Joun_Lord]

A 5 day suspension for leaving some dude locked up without food and water for 5 days? Seriously?

Thats what I got in fucking middle school for accidentally clicking on a porn site and possibly aside from my innocence nobody got hurt from that.

People responsible for this horrific fuck-up that seriously injured and could have easily killed someone (it almost did) should be seeing hard jail time and being bared from any government job when they get out.

I cannot imagine the horror the poor guy went through. 4 million dollars seems not enough for what he went through.

[Temjin]

While the level of incompetence is staggering, it's almost understandable.

"That cell is empty. Do we really need to waste our time to check it? Just because some bureaucrat says so? Let him come down here and do it. We got too much shit to do already."

That being said, I'm really surprised no one is being fired for this.

[Gandalf]

Are you fucking kidding me? The guy nearly died and has most likely permanent health problems due to their fuckup. And all they get is a "don't do it again"? Bullshit.

Cost the department 4.1 million dollars + an unknown amount of lawyer time, court fee's and bad press.

Does bad press mean anything for a government agency? It's not like they have customers who can go elsewhere.

[Flagg]

He's only suing for $20 million? I'd be suing for $1 million a minute.

As for the "punishments", that's more than I expected, TBH. And I'm not being a hyperbolic dick, the DEA was involved in a lot of shootings in Central FL and there was funky shit that would go on, where the news would report a DEA agent as doing something wrong, and then days later, same paper prints similar story only now a Deputy or Officer did what they said the DEA Agent had done.

[TheFeniX]

Are you fucking kidding me? The guy nearly died and has most likely permanent health problems due to their fuckup. And all they get is a "don't do it again"? Bullshit.

Cost the department 4.1 million dollars + an unknown amount of lawyer time, court fee's and bad press.

Does bad press mean anything for a government agency? It's not like they have customers who can go elsewhere.

Only if it's something useless like the US Post Office or Education. Ensuring nothing comes between the ability of law enforcement to violate human rights is "tough on crime," just like pointing to teachers being overpaid show us why we're really in a budgetary crisis.

[Mr Bean]

Cost the department 4.1 million dollars + an unknown amount of lawyer time, court fee's and bad press.

Does bad press mean anything for a government agency? It's not like they have customers who can go elsewhere.

Only if it's something useless like the US Post Office or Education. Ensuring nothing comes between the ability of law enforcement to violate human rights is "tough on crime," just like pointing to teachers being overpaid show us why we're really in a budgetary crisis.

Okay mr DEA man so you ran the facility where... oh yes the man almost died from neglect. Well we will keep your resume on file.

Bad Press does not matter to the DEA as a whole but a lot to the people directly in charge of these fools.

[Dominus Atheos]

In a similar vain, does everybody remember this?

A Victoria police officer is under investigation after a 76-year-old man accused him of using excessive force during a traffic stop.

The officer, Nathanial Robinson, 23, was placed on administrative duty Friday pending the outcome of an internal investigation into whether he violated the use of force policy when he tased Victoria resident Pete Vasquez, said Chief J.J. Craig. The officer was hired after graduating from the police academy two years ago.

The incident happened Thursday after Robinson saw an expired inspection sticker on the car Vasquez was driving back to Adam's Auto Mart, 2801 N. Laurent St., where he helps with mechanical work.

Vasquez got out of the car, which is owned by the car lot, attempting to get the manager. He pointed out to the officer the dealer tags on the back of the car, which would make it exempt from having an inspection.

Police dashboard camera video shows Robinson arresting Vasquez for the expired sticker.

When the officer first grabbed Vasquez's arm, the older man pulled it away. Robinson then pushed Vasquez down on the hood of the police cruiser. The two fell out of the camera's video frame, but police said the officer used the Taser on Vasquez twice while he was on the ground.

"He just acted like a pit bull, and that was it," Vasquez said. "For a while, I thought he was going to pull his gun and shoot me."

Vasquez was handcuffed, placed in the back of the police cruiser and taken to Citizens Medical Center, where he remained in police custody for two hours.

Craig said the police department's dash cam footage "raises some concerns."

He decided to open the investigation after viewing the footage and has personally apologized to Vasquez for the incident.

"Public trust is extremely important to us," Craig said. "Sometimes that means you have to take a real hard look at some of the actions that occur within the department."

The internal investigation also will examine the details of the arrest. Driving with an expired inspection sticker is a Class C misdemeanor, typically addressed with a citation. Because Vasquez was driving a car with dealer tags, the car was exempt, Craig confirmed. Vasquez was released from the hospital without being cited.

If the investigation finds Robinson violated the use of force policy, his possible punishment ranges from a letter of reprimand to suspension without pay or termination, Craig said.

That cop was eventually fired... only to be rehired in the next town over:

Former Victoria Police Officer Nathanial Robinson has a new job with the Beeville Police Department, according to a Corpus Christi news station.

Robinson was fired in December after dash cam footage showed him stopping 76-year-old Victoria man Pete Vasquez, throwing him toward the ground, using a stun gun on him and later arresting him.

He was fired from the Victoria department after violating its police conduct, use of force and arrest policies and procedures.

A grand jury decided not to indict Robinson.

Beeville Police Chief Joe Trevino said Robinson won't immediately be placed back on the streets, KIII-TV reported. The 23-year-old will go through a 12-week training program, which will include learning department policies and procedures, and retraining on using tools and weapons, the chief told the TV news station.

https://www.victoriaadvocate.com/news/2 ... -beeville/

[Alyeska]

And what exactly does that have to do with the DEA?