To load or not to load, that’s the question at MDC

Did a Metropolitan Detention Center supervisor commit criminal offenses by sending an agitated inmate back to jail to “cool off” before being released? The Second Judicial District Attorney’s Office and a grand jury say yes. The attorneys for the corrections officer and his union say no.

Meanwhile, the Nov. 16 felony indictment of Lt. Stephen Perkins — a 20-year jail employee and longtime president of the Bernalillo County Corrections Officer Association — is raising taxpayers’ tab and questions. Is there a standard procedure for dealing with inmates leaving the jail then deemed not safe to load into the transport van? If not, why not? If so, what is it? Because inmate Anthony Hice can’t be the first in MDC history to get argumentative while being released. Journal requests about a policy have gone unanswered. According to court documents, Hice was arrested Jan. 15 on charges of driving while his license was revoked and not having insurance; a judge determined he should be released on his own recognizance. DA spokesman Michael Patrick said when corrections officers were loading Hice and a female inmate onto a transport bus shortly before midnight Jan. 16, he fell off a step, became angry and began arguing with the guards. “That’s when Lt. Perkins is called,” Patrick said. “He made the decision to bring Hice back to MDC and let him cool off. And that’s where the charge of false imprisonment came from.”

OK, keeping Hice in custody could be well beyond Perkins’ pay grade, but should detention officers allow an argumentative inmate on the transport bus? There was at least one other passenger on board. Her safety and that of the driver have to be taken into account, along with the public Hice will encounter on Albuquerque streets in the wee hours of the morning. In addition, Perkins faces a charge of tampering with public records. Patrick says after Hice was taken back into the jail, Perkins told an employee to create a new booking sheet. One created Jan. 16 says Hice “must be assessed by PSU (Psychiatric Segregation Unit) prior to release.” “Perkins effectively falsely created a booking sheet that appeared to be a valid hold of Mr. Hice, when his original booking sheet noted Mr. Hice was released on his own recognizance and no longer being held by any court order,” Patrick said.

OK, but if requesting a psychiatric evaluation prior to transport and release is not in MDC policy and was well beyond Perkins’ authority, does it rise to the level of falsifying a booking sheet? If so, does that warrant workplace discipline or being charged with two fourth-degree felonies and joining Hice and others in the crowded legal system?

Now consider, Patrick said Hice, who in court documents this summer said he was homeless, was held in jail for an extra eight hours — he was out around breakfast instead of the middle of the night. He has missed at least two court hearings since he was released and the Journal has been unable to contact him. That begs the question who is really driving this investigation and these charges? Add in that Perkins, 47, pleaded not guilty, was released on his own recognizance and is on vacation leave as the taxpayerfunded MDC struggles with adequate staffing. Perkins’ attorney, Sam Bregman, called the process “a ridiculous waste of resources.” Union attorney Shane Youtz called the charges “somewhat ridiculous.”

And taxpayers, who are covering Perkins’ vacation leave, the presumed overtime to cover his shifts, the salaries of the Bernalillo County deputies who investigated the incident and those of the prosecutors who took the case to a grand jury, have got to be asking if this is the best use of their hard-earned tax dollars in this situation.