It’s OK to hit inmate for how many times?

How many times must a jailer slug a detainee before he loses his job? At the Jefferson County jail, under Sheriff Lafayette Woods Jr.’s watch, the answer is apparently more than a dozen.

Through the use of the Freedom of Information Act, reporter Eplunus Colvin was able to collect personnel records and years of information about a supervisor at the W.C. “Dub” Brassell Adult Detention Center, Lt. Samuel Baker.

Years ago, when Baker came to work for the sheriff’s office, when now-County Judge Gerald Robinson was the sheriff, Baker reportedly had been fired from the state Department of Corrections over allegations of abuse of an inmate.

A few years later, Baker was fired by the county. Later, and this was still under Robinson’s watch, Baker was rehired.

And now, under Woods’ tenure, Baker was fired again. But that was just briefly, because Baker appealed his termination, and right there with open arms, there was Woods, who allowed Baker to keep his job – once Baker completes de-escalation class. Such classes don’t seem to have done much good in the past, seeing as how Baker took anger management classes at one point in his troubled career.

So what happened that caused the county to send, or almost send, Baker packing? The jail video shows, and documents from an internal investigation corroborate, that Baker was leading a detainee at the jail to a new cell when Baker went inside and started swinging at the man.

Did other detention center employees come to the detainee’s aid by intervening? Not really. Toward the end of the incident, when Baker’s arm was probably tiring, one other employee timidly put a hand on Baker to suggest that perhaps the slugging should stop.

According to the detainee, he was allowed to sit in the jail for five days. During that time, he complained of pain, numbness and bleeding. On the fifth day, he was taken to the hospital, where it was determined that he had suffered a broken jaw and nose. That is outrageous.

The internal investigation included testimony from all those involved in the incident. The outcome of the investigation was termination for Baker and slaps on the wrist for a couple of other employees who should have known and acted better.

But, as the story noted, Baker appealed and Woods, who is the chairman of the appeal panel, reduced Baker’s termination to taking a class and promising to do better.

We expected more of Woods. If the public had any faith that the jail was being held to the highest standards, this episode has shattered that notion. No one who hammers away at a detainee – and who has been fired for excessive force on two other occasions – should be anywhere near a jail or the supervision of detainees. If Woods is blind to that, he should not be supervising the county’s lockup.

And while this may be the end of this chapter for now at the jail, we can’t help but think that, armed with this fresh evidence of mistreatment, current and previous detainees will be contacting attorneys about their own treatment while being held.

Jails are necessary evils of society, but that doesn’t mean that those being held inside should not be treated as human beings. No employee should be allowed to strike out at a detainee, and if that does happen, other employees should quickly step in to stop the blows instead of standing around looking at their shoes.

Obviously, the county jail has a long way to go to reach acceptable standards. At this point, we do not believe Woods is the one to get it there.