Brickbat: To Serve and Protect

A grand jury in West Palm Beach, Florida, says Eric Perez received "fundamentally inadequate" care at the Palm Beach county juvenile detention center. Perez had been arrested for marijuana possession. He was allegedly tossed on his head during "horseplay" with some of the guards. He was taken back to his cell despite being unsteady on his feet. He spent the next several hours, hallucinating, crying in pain, calling for help, vomiting, and soiling himself before dying. Though an officer checked on his cell every 10 minutes, the only effort to get him help were two calls to the head nurse that went unanswered.

Brickbat Archive

Comments

[johnl]

Horseplay. And nothing else happened.

[WTF]

I'll bet that procedures were followed, though.

[Stormy Dragon]

Jerry Sandusky is so pissed he didn't think of becoming a prison guard instead of a football coach. When the coach says it was just foreplay, no one believes them.

[Fist of Etiquette]

If you take a person into custody, by definition you are then responsible for them. You've taken away their freedom to take care of themselves. This kid was murdered.

[Whiterun Guard]

Serves him right. Dirty scumbag was arrested for marijuana possession. Which supports terrorists.

And those who support terrorists ARE terrorists. Frankly the guards killing him was probably the only thing that saved them from being collateral damage in a drone strike. Self defense if you ask me.

[CuriousGeorge]

When the state kills someone it is never, ever murder. Nope, just fundamentally inadequate care.

Nothin to see here, move along and stop resisting.

[sarcasmic]

Because all criminal matters are crimes against the state, and prison guards are agents of the state, it is impossible for prison guards to commit crimes.
How can the state commit crimes against itself?

[sloopyinca]

Try wrapping your head around this, then. It's your wet dream.

[sloopyinca]

You ought to read this article and the backstory then. You'll laugh. You'll cry. You'll rage when you realize taxpayers end up paying for it.

[sloopyinca]

Read this article: http://blog.cleveland.com/metr....._offi.html

I keep trying to imbed it, but it marks it as spam.

[sloopyinca]

Read this article: http://blog.cleveland.com/metr....._offi.html

For some reason, the squirrels don't want me to post it. It keeps blocking it as spam.

[Zeb]

You should probably ask some of the prison guards who have been convicted of crimes.

[sarcasmic]

How many were convicted of crimes committed while wearing the uniform?

I'm thinking somewhere close to zero.

[invisible furry hand]

"Eric's death has motivated us at DJJ to ensure we have proper policies and procedures and that our employees are effectively trained to follow them," Walters said.

FFS, he was soiling himself after being injured. Who wouldn't call 911? "Don't hire violent bullies and/or cretins" is probably the only policy or procedure you need.

[Fatty Bolger]

Seriously. They need training to know that it's a bad idea to drop somebody on his head? And that if you do drop somebody on his head and and he starts vomiting and shitting himself, then it might be a good idea to get him to a hospital?

[Groovus Maximus]

Your average 6 year old knows this when the concept of 9. 1. 1. is explained to them.

Why exactly do these super awesome porcines need remediation for emergency procedures again? Moreoever, why do they even have a job and not in the same place where they worked, just in a more appropriate area? Like, on the other side of the cell? Occupying it?

[db]

This is good because it helps ensure that I will never have a Twitter account. The optimum use for Twitter is catching politicians saying stupid shit; someone has now automated the process. No need for me to waste my time on it now.

[db]

Holy shit, these Squirrels are pros.

[Ted S.]

Nah; you're just incompetent. :-p

[Groovus Maximus]

Seconded. User FAIL, db. 🙂

[Suthenboy]

I dont remember the exact numbers, but the average policeman has an iq 5-10 points lower than the average citizen. Prison gaurds are usually the ones who arent smart enough to make 'cop'.

[Bee Tagger]

I would hope that, provided we're not talking about the declared mentally retarded, their intelligence would have no bearing on their ability to understand the basic concepts of right and wrong.

[sarcasmic]

"Right" is what they can get away with, and "wrong" is what will get them punished.

That is their moral code.

[Zeb]

I don't think intelligence and morality necessarily go together. There are plenty of very clever sociopaths and psychopaths out there.

[Lord Humungus]

what facility allows "horseplay" between guards and prisoners?

[SugarFree]

The Steve Smith Day Camp for Overlarge Teens

[BakedPenguin]

Penn State youth football camp?

[Zeb]

Yeah, that struck me as pretty fucked up. They say it as if it excuses it somehow. I don't think that "horseplay" is the right word when one of the participants has practically absolute authority over the other.

[ChrisO]

I'm going to take a wild guess and say that "horseplay" is a euphemism for what actually happened.

[perlhaqr]

"Haw haw haw! We're just having a grand old time here at the Palm Beach county juvenile detention center!"

[SugarFree]

"Eric's death has motivated us at DJJ to ensure we have proper policies and procedures and that our employees are effectively trained to follow them," Walters said.

These guards are real heroes. Think of how many lives of other prisoners that would have been murdered by guards have been saved by their brave sacrifice.

[Groovus Maximus]

I was in a good mood until I read this Brickbat.

This man died in utter torment, most likely of a cerebral infarction. My opinion of humanity grows lower and lower every damn day.

Oh, Saccharin Man, I took your advice: The move is still happening, but with a heavier heart. 🙁

[SugarFree]

Ah, dude. That sucks.

But, on the lower hand, there are Ukrainian chicks on the horizon... Hot girls with charmingly broken English who will make you varenyky is a bright future indeed.

[Groovus Maximus]

What you say is true, but they seem so...pale in comparison now.

/weak funny/sad pun

[invisible furry hand]

will the time difference get in the way of you H+R activities?

[Groovus Maximus]

Not appreciably, but the workload might. I reduced my patient load for a couple of reasons (drink) and that has enabled the H n'R funny that I (arguably) bring.

[kibby]

Tell me about it. I don't think good moods in the morning exist past my first five minutes on this site.

[hamilton]

That police professionalism just keeps on increasing day by day. It's just a pity that all the rest of us keep getting less and less professional I guess.

[Joe M]

Hey, better dead than a druggie, right?

[buntpunt]

That looks like it might be time to take it to the mat dude.

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