Jail overseers seeking outside expertise
Goal is to ‘get to bottom of what is truly going on’
A civilian oversight board wants help evaluating whether the Bernalillo County jail meets national standards for the prevention of rape, the use of force on inmates and other operations.
The board — a nine-member body appointed by the County Commission — agreed without opposition late Monday to seek proposals from private investigation firms and other companies with similar expertise.
The goal is to “get to the bottom of what is truly going on at the jail,” said Deanna Archuleta, a member of the jail oversight board and former county commissioner.
She and other board members didn’t single out any particular incident for investigation, but they said they need an independent company that can provide information to help them fulfill their role as an oversight body.
Much of Monday’s discussion centered on whether the county Metropolitan Detention Center is meeting its obligations under the Prison Rape Elimination Act, a federal law that aims to prevent sexual violence behind bars.
A 2015 study by the Institute for Social Research at the University of New Mexico said the jail had no reliable way of documenting and reporting behavior covered by the law. Researchers also found a “general misunderstanding” at the jail about what constitutes a (Prison Rape Elimination Act) incident,” the report said.
“We are so far behind the curve, it’s shameful,” said K.C. Quirk, a
board member and executive director of Crossroads for Women, a group that helps women struggling with homelessness and frequent incarceration.
Jail officials said they are taking action to address the findings of the UNM study.
Rocky Valdez, another board member, said he hopes the consultant can also help determine whether officers are violating the jail’s use-of-force policy and whether the jail meets American Correctional Association standards.
Without opposition, the board agreed to work with the county manager to seek proposals from companies interested in the work. The county administration said a firm could be in place within a month.
The Detention Facility Management Oversight Board, created just last year, is charged with recommending policies to the County Commission to improve jail operations. It’s also empowered to hire firms to conduct independent investigations.
More scrutiny inside jail
The move to hire a consultant comes as Bernalillo County faces increased scrutiny over the use of force inside the jail.
One jail sergeant, Eric Allen, has been on paid leave since January in connection with two incidents that have been investigated by law enforcement, county and union officials say.
In one incident, jail officers repeatedly used force on an inmate because she wouldn’t stop crying. A video released by the county shows the inmate — a petite woman — lying on the floor and sobbing as Allen tells another officer to “twist her wrist until she shuts up and stops crying.”
The union that represents jail employees says Allen did nothing wrong and that the county is retaliating against him for union activity. Allen is vice president of the jail union.
Training began last week on a new use-of-force policy developed as part of litigation over conditions inside the jail, county officials say.
‘Terrible breakdown’
Michael Brasher, a member of the oversight board and a former county commissioner, raised concerns Monday about how forthcoming county jail officials have been with the jail board and its predecessor, a public safety advisory board.
“We need ... to make sure we’re getting the appropriate information,” he said.
Marie Miranda, a former police captain, expressed frustration that jail administrators couldn’t immediately say how many criminal investigations are underway at the jail. The county needs to know if its employees are suspected of a crime, she said, so that it can launch an administrative investigation that could result in discipline or termination.
“That’s a terrible breakdown in communication in the system,” she said.