Jail deaths: Do officers handle ‘excited delirium’ properly?
Four Clark County Detention Center officers are on paid administrative leave pending an internal investigation into the death of jail inmate Luis Solano, who died March 6 after losing consciousness during a Feb. 25 struggle with the corrections workers.
Las Vegas police said Solano, 38, was uncooperative before the struggle at the jail ensued. The physical encounter between the jail employees and Solano lasted about three minutes, after which jail personnel noticed he was unconscious and struggling to breathe. His cause of death was not released.
Solano’s daughter says he was 5-11 and weighed about 250 pounds. He was jailed Feb. 21 on suspicion of trafficking cocaine and possession of marijuana with intent to sell. He was taking medication for anxiety, and he was a diabetic who didn’t treat his condition, Carmen Solano said. She didn’t know whether personnel at the county jail knew about his medical history or were treating his anxiety.
Four men died in January 2012 after they were taken into custody by Las Vegas police.
On Jan. 14, 2012, shortly after midnight, 51-year-old Ona Sean Grimes died at the county jail after a likely medical episode.
On Jan. 18, 2012, Anthony Barrett, 43, died after swallowing a bag of cocaine just before police arrested him.
On Jan. 21, 2012, 31-year-old Farouk Hanga-Taylor died at University Medical Center after suffering a possible seizure in his cell. Hanga-Taylor was arrested after he struck and killed a man with his vehicle.
On Jan. 24, 2012, James Venters, 42, died after being taken to the county jail by Taxicab Authority officers. Police said Venters had disputed a fare near 15th and Fremont streets when he was arrested for being “combative.” Corrections officers tried to revive him at the jail. He died at Valley Hospital Medical Center.
No one has proved wrongdoing on the part of corrections officers in these deaths. No one has even been charged. Many jail inmates are rough characters, and it’s common sense that a measured amount of physical force sometimes is required. No one expects our corrections officers to sit on the floor, strumming guitars and singing “Kumbaya” until inmates’ eyelids grow heavy and they can be led peacefully to their cells like sleepy children.
On the other hand, no death is a minor death. The public deserves a detailed accounting of such incidents — something beyond “It’s a training matter and it’s been taken care of.”
What about the medical screening process for new arrivals at the jail? Are arrestees likely to believe it if they’re told “Nothing you say about your medical condition or drugs now in your system will be used against you”?
If Mr. Solano was exhibiting what’s referred to as excited delirium, the amount of force needed to bring about compliance could well have led to what officers call “positional asphyxiation.” Doesn’t policy call for immediately summoning medical assistance, in the face of such behavior?