Sacramento County Sheriff's Department

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Sacramento County Sheriff's Department
Established 1850
Jurisdiction Sacramento County
Stations 6
Jails 1
Helicopters 3
Sheriff John McGinness

The Sacramento County Sheriff's Department (SSD) is a local law enforcement agency that serves Sacramento County, California. It provides general-service law enforcement to unincorporated areas of Sacramento County, as well as incorporated cities within the county who have contracted with the agency for law-enforcement services. Currently only Rancho Cordova has such a contract with the department since the Citrus Heights and Elk Grove Police Departments assumed all police authority and responsibility for Citrus Heights and Elk Grove in 2006 respectively. It also holds primary jurisdiction over facilities operated by Sacramento County, such as local parks, marinas and government buildings; provides marshal service for the Superior Court of California, County of Sacramento; operates the Sacramento County Jail; and provides services such as laboratories and academy training to smaller law enforcement agencies within the county. The county sheriff is currently John McGinness.

Contents

[edit] Organization

  • Office of the Sheriff - John McGinness
    • Media & Public Affairs
  • Undersheriff - George Anderson
    • Legislative Advocate
    • Fair Employment
    • Pre-Employment
    • Recruiting
    • Special Investigations Bureau
      • Alcohol Abatement Detail
      • Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms (Project Exile)
      • Anti-Terrorism Detail
      • Bingo Detail
      • Business Licensing Detail
      • F.B.I. Joint Terrorism Task Force
      • Organized Crime Detail
      • Vice Detail

[edit] Alleged misconduct

The department has been the target of multiple accusations of brutality, abuse, and mismanagement by deputies at the Sacramento County Jail while under the supervision of then Undersheriff John McGinness. The Sacramento Bee has documented many such cases in its Watchdog Reports.

[edit] Judson King

In 1998, while at the jail, a deputy ordered Judson King to move faster, to which he replied, "I am." In King's claim, his elbow was immediately fractured, and later received a settlement of $35,000.[1]

[edit] Troy Zwierzynski

In 1999, Troy Zwierzynski had surrendered himself at the jail to complete a work project as part of a misdemeanor sentence. While in a holding cell, he said, he heard a man screaming and turned to look. A deputy ordered Zwierzynski to look away, and "slammed him against the wall violently twisting back his wrists and arms," the complaint states. "The deputies asked (him) if he was going to look the next time. ... Plaintiff, in tears, responded that he would not look again." His wrist was broken, and later received a settlement of $35,000.[1]

[edit] Michael Hay

Hay being warned, minutes before both his arms were "twist-locked" for several minutes.
Hay being warned, minutes before both his arms were "twist-locked" for several minutes.

On December 22, 2000, Sacramento State student Michael Hay was drunk in his apartment when Sheriffs Deputies Rebecca Eubanks and Robert Book contronted him about loud music. After being belligerent towards the officer, Book "handcuffed him and walked him downstairs" and arrested him for being drunk in public; the charges were later dropped and Deputy Book was reprimanded because his "arrest of Michael H. was without legal authority." While being booked at the Sacramento County Jail, he was repeatadly told comments about how his stay was going to be like. Deputy Eubanks says "We're really, really bored and we need some body to play with, so you're it, OK?" Later the staff nurse warns him that "they like to hurt people around here" and an unidentified officer make a shadow-boxing motion. When Hay is eventually searched, an Officer randomly starts to twist his arm, so long and with such force, he eventually breaks it. After sustaining the night with a broken arm and no medical attention, he is released and seeks medical care three days later. In 2002, Hay settled a lawsuit against the department for $147,500.[2]

[edit] Darryl O'Brien

In 2002, 52-year-old Darryl O'Brien, a woman with no previous criminal record, was "dropped" fracturing her knee. After removing her handcuffs, her arm was yanked so hard behind her back it fractured her shoulder. Her claim against the county was later settled for $7,500.[1]

[edit] Jafar Afshar

Jafar Afshar seconds before being body-slammed.
Jafar Afshar seconds before being body-slammed.

On June 7, 2003, ex-Marine Jafar Afshar was arrested for public intoxication, charges that were dropped the next morning. While being booked, his handcuffs were taken off and was immediately thrown to the ground, spliting his head open and leaving a pool of blood on the floor. A year later, Afshar filed a federal lawsuit (Afshar v. County of Sacramento) alleging violations of 42 U.S.C. ยง 1983. The only officer named in the lawsuit, Officer Spaid, said in his incident report that Afshar "swung toward him".[2] Afshar received two sets of videotape, the first showing no incident, and the second with missing video, which Afshar's attorney calls "a cover-up".[3]

[edit] Mihaita Constantin

Mihaita Constantin after his encounter with more than five Sacramento County Sheriffs.
Mihaita Constantin after his encounter with more than five Sacramento County Sheriffs.

Mihaita Constantin, a 33 year old Romanian immigrant was arrested on July 14, 2003 on suspicion of drunk driving. While in one of the holding cells, he refused to sit. Five deputies rushed in and proceeded to handcuff Constantin and scuffle with him for well over 5 minutes, putting a towel over his head. Afterwards, Constantin was left semi-conscious, towel still over his head, with a broken hand, fractured nose and severely bruised; no officers were injured. On June 29, 2004, Constantin filed a federal lawsuit against the department alleging violations of his civil rights; he was later found dead in a crashed car on a mountain slope near Blue Canyon. His wife has returned to Europe but is continuing the lawsuit.[2]

[edit] Branden Johnson

On October 29, 2005, Branden Johnson was arrested on suspicion on drunk driving and taken to Sacramento County Jail. During his incarceration, he told the Sacramento Bee that "deputies beat him when he was shackled hand and foot, repeatedly slamming him to the ground." The department refuted the allegations, even providing an 11-minute video clip of Johnson's 14 hour incarceration showing Johnson allegedly banging his head against the wall. Johnson stated that he'd like to see the whole video but saying he "believe[s] that the whole tape won't ever be available." Undersheriff John McGinness, in charge of operations at the jail, declined to immediately provide the rest of the footage.[4]

[edit] Don Anthony Antoine

On June 19, 2004, Don Anthony Antoine was arrested by Sacramento Police officers on charges of assaulting a firefighter, driving under the influence of alcohol, and possession of nunchucks after he ran his car off the Arden-Garden Connector in the Gardenland neighborhood of Sacramento and starting a fight with firefighters who responded to the accident.[5] He accused deputies Chris Baker, Joseph Reeve, Brian Wade and Christopher Britton of using excessive force when he says they kicked, punched, beat and choked him when they shackled him to a Sacramento County Jail cell's floor grate, an event which the deputies deny even took place. On April 16, 2008, a federal grand jury awarded Antoine $170,000 after they found the deputies acted maliciously when they beat hime, and and one of the jurors was quoted saying the deputies "chained him to a grate like a dog."[6]

[edit] See also

California Portal
Law enforcement/Law enforcement topics Portal

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c "Excess-force sheriff's cases cost $3.9 million", Sacramento Bee, November 3, 2005, p. A1. 
  2. ^ a b c "Watchdog report: Suit alleges jail brutality", Sacramento Bee, October 30, 2005, p. A1. 
  3. ^ "Main Jail's videos are crucial in brutality suits", Sacramento Bee, March 24, 2006, p. A1. 
  4. ^ "Panel seeks jail task force", Sacramento Bee, November 2, 2005, p. A1. 
  5. ^ Walsh, Denny. "Sacramento jury hears two versions of jailed man's injuries", Sacramento Bee, 2008-04-03. Retrieved on 2008-04-18. 
  6. ^ Walsh, Denny. "Man awarded $170,000 for being restrained in Sacramento jail", Associated Press, San Francisco Chronicle, 2008-04-03. Retrieved on 2008-04-18. 

[edit] External links