A male inmate attempted to hang himself at the Harford County Detention Center Friday afternoon and was hospitalized in critical condition, police said.
According to Harford County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Edward Hopkins, at 4:55 p.m. a 42-year-old male inmate attempted to hang himself. The man was treated at the jail and later transported to Upper Chesapeake Medical Center in critical condition. An update on his status was not immediately available Saturday evening.
The man was serving a 30-day sentence on traffic charges, Hopkins said. He was not on a protective watch, and was not considered an at-risk inmate. The Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigations Division is investigating the incident.
The attempted hanging follows several similar acts at the detention center over the last few years, the most recent coming in early November when a 45-year-old Edgewood man hung himself in his cell.
Dig a little harder Dagger. I remember the last one one that the spokesperson said was not on active watch, but actually was. Then didn’t want to share the fact that another attempt was actually successful. Sheriff Bane is once again not being honest and I predict the next few days will show us that once again.
@Wow,
I think you will be proven correct. Word is that this inmate was on active watch and will not survive.
why does everything have to be sheriff bane’ fault. Do you not think he has people under him that can run the show. If he is the problem, why are we paying all these people salaries to do nothing and not get the blame! Didn’t the medical department just get a big pay raise. Our tax dollars are not being spent wisely and now it is coming back to haunt us. You get what you pay for. Maybe we should give all the extra money to the school system.
@eieio,
Sheriff Bane is responsible as the head of the Office. He has the ability to appoint a new leader for the jail, but hasn’t. He has the ability to remove the ineffective and incompetent, but hasn’t. He has the ability to be honest about these deaths at the jail, but he hasn’t. The question is, when with the state or the Feds intervene and investigate Bane’s mismanagement and care of those at the jail?
I do agree with your statement, but if he doesn’t have the people, under him, telling him what is going on. I don’t think he would be happy with not knowing what is going on. But there keeps being a mentality that the medical department runs the jail and the ship is without a leader.
If there is a mentality that the medical department runs the jail, then that is because Bane allows it. Probably much like the union runs the office for him.
which union?
eieio,
The people under Bane tell him what he wants to hear. That is how they became Majors and Captains. Command Staff members who told Sheriff Bane what he needed to hear are no longer with the Harford County Sheriff’s Office.
Is there more than one union?
Bane is an incompetent manager and people are losing their lives and livelihoods because of it. The politicians in this State need to pay attention and look into the problems of the Sheriff’s Office before the taxpayers have to start paying!
If Eddie Hopkins said then it is solid information. He would never release information that was not confirmed first.
Marc, I believe Eddie is a stand-up guy, but he’s merely Bane’s puppet now. What a shame.
The Harford County Detention Center’s 9th suicide, “possible homicide” victim is a close family relative of mine. I do not speak for my entire family, only for myself. He was a loyal son, brother, uncle, husband to be, and friend to many. I saw or heard from him nearly every day of his life. He was not a mentally disturbed or disordered person; he just made a traffic mistake — and not something he thought he would die over. He had extremely good reasoning skills. He was content in his life, he was well read and knowledgable about many subjects, a good communicator, highly skilled in his field of work, was passionately in love with his Lady who he met at the age of eleven. He had many dreams and plans for his future; he was quite talented in carpentry, wood working, gardening and he always had a project going where he was building something.
He planned to vacation with his lovely Lady this year at Cape Haderous. He was three credits away from his degree in business. His most consistant companion was his dog Rooney who he described as ” the son he never had”. He was making plans and arrangements for Rooney to have eye surgery after he came home. He placed an order on materials he needed for a building project he would begin in late February and planned to complete his sketches over the next couple of weeks at the detention center.
His Lady visited him on Wednesday and left him in fine spirits: he was smiling and blowing her kisses. She received a lengthy letter from him a day or so later expressing many plans for their immediate and long term future. You see, he was given a 30 day incarceration for a traffic violation which had been reduced to 20 some days; he was in his 1st week with approximately 14 days to go. He told her of some alarming things that were going on there and he wasn’t quite sure how he was going to handle it -but- he planned to remain as positive as he could and be pro-active about the issues. He expressed concern regarding the structure and lack of discipline he was witnessing.
His attorney received a very alarming, distraught, pure panic phone call from him on Thursday, 1-24-2013 (a.m.) from the detention center. The attorney contacted the facility and voiced concerns and then contacted his family. The family then contacted the detention center and raised their concerns; the family was told that he had been placed in protective custody at his request and that a video camera that ran 24 hours a day, every day, was taping his cell and him within the cell for the duration of his stay. The family requested a follow-up call from him to assure his safety. That call was never received from him. The attorney planned a visit for Saturday morning. Family would not be permitted to see him until the next visiting day which was Sunday.
His mother received a call from a nurse on Friday, approximately 6:10 pm stating that he had been transported to Upper Chesapeake via ambulance and was in serious condition. Later, it was determined that the incident happened at around 3:00 pm. The detention center and the hospital refused to give ANY information regarding what had happened, or the extent of his injuries -even though- the nurse stated that he had signed a release of information form with them naming his mother as the contact person ??????? After a 2 hour drive to Upper Chesapeake, they found their son in intensive care on a breathing machine and totally unresponsive. They were told that pertinent medical information and important facts regarding the incident, and specific medical treatment given by the detention center staff, were not forwarded to the hospital; and, they were having a difficult time ascertaining the “much needed” information. You would think that answers to ALL questions would/should be available to the hospital’s medical staff in the treatment of a critically ill, near death patient? From what I am hearing, seeing and experiencing it appears that “the right hand does not know what the left hand is doing” at the Harfor County Detention Center. Regardless of who they are or where that patient came from — he was still a human being and at least part of him was fighting very hard to live which became evident immediately at his arrival to the hospital. His determined fight for life continued in the days that followed.
Now I ask you: does the 9th victim appear to be a depressed, suicidal crimminal? If you answer no, you are absolutely correct. It makes you ask some very specific questions as to just what happened to him in what appears to be 7 very long days? Is 7 days enough time to completely turn a person’s life totally up-side-down and want to die? Apparently, it is at the Harford County Detention Center.
We don’t have a lot of answers yet — but we do have some. Please pray to our Father God on our behalf. We have lots of questons and concerns; we will seek the appropriate avenues to attain the understanding that we need to come to -but- we recognize that we need help from a much higher authority because the loss of our loved one goes far beyond our human understanding.
Out of love and respect for the the 9th victim, I could not share any of this until now: As of 5:00 pm today, Tuesday, January 29th, 2013, that viable, productive, God loving, wonderful man gave up his fight and surrendered his body, mind and soul to his heavenly Father — or “My Good Lord” as he called him.
Knowing him, he would probabley say: “Be careful driving through Harford County — it certainly can kill you”.
I am truly saddened by this. Prayers are with you and the family.
If you tell an extremely one sided story like you’ve done here then I guess people would see things your way. I chose not to bring this up out of respect but I feel that the other half of the story needs to be told since you’ve decided to tell a typical “he was a happy, good boy” story like we see all the time on the news. Although this guy was in jail this time on a traffic case, he had a history of numerous thefts, burglary, assault, destruction of property, DUI, Robbery w/a handgun, CDS Posession, motor vehicle theft, breaking and entering, attempting to elude, DUI resulting in accident and failure to remain at the scene and CDS distribution. His two decade long crime spree ranges across Harford County, Carroll County, and Baltimore County. It sounds like he had a serious drug/alcohol problem which is a classic symptom/cause of major depression.
No one sides with officers more than I do, and I don’t believe that the officers did anything wrong in this instance. However, I do not believe that your depiction of this man in any way indicates that he had a serious drug/alcohol problem or that he was depressed. I will agree that something happened at the jail to cause staff to place him into a single person cell. I don’t have any factual information as to why that occurred. Perhaps you do. If medical or jail staff felt that the man was depressed and that is why he was placed into a single person cell, he should also have been placed on a watch. If he was placed into a single person cell for protection from other inmates then that is a different story, and would of course be more in line with the statements made above from his family member.
Then a detective you are not, CDS means controlled dangerous substance aka drugs. Numerous drug charges, driving under the influence of alcohol and or drug charges combined with thefts (usually an indicator that someone is stealing to support a drug habit). To anyone in the judicial system or law enforcement field this would scream out drug addiction. I am simply using this to show that the “he was a happy go lucky law abiding citizen who happened to get a simple driving charge” assertion is a big omission of facts. He was probably placed on seg as a result of the concerns expressed by the family when they called the detention center as is standard practice if someone is uncomfortable in general population.
I agree that he was probably uncomfortable in general population. Most of the inmates currently incarcerated at the HCDC have alcohol/ drug problems, DUI arrests, and various charges for robbery, breaking and entering, etc.. Most are not in admin segregation and the reason they are not is they are not depressed. I again stress, that if he was placed in segregation for significant depression, he probably should have been on a watch. I don’t know the reason he was placed in segregation.
It has been an extremely hard week for our family. Even though I’m trying to direct all of my time and energy to the needs of our family and the fond farewell to our guy — it is so tempting to read this blog because we have so many questions and concerns. I am speaking again for myself, and thru you I am beginning to understand the disturbing, pitiful situation at the detention center. Even in the pit of my grief, I feel sorry for the employees; especially those who provide direct services to the inmates. You all are correct to some extent: budget, allocation of funds, training and staffing are issues that are the responsibility of the top administrators. Those issues all fall under “leadership responsibility”; there are definitely, without a doubt, many unacceptable problems within the administration and management. It appears that those problems are flowing down through all ranks of employees; and we all know that if people are not happy with their employers, they just do not to a good job. Anger, disappointment, lack of leadership, being overworked, overwhelmed and afraid to speak out against what is wrong due to fear of loosing their jobs is not acceptable. That does not encourage a good environment for the workers or the inmates; especially the overburdened guards. When people are well trained, supported with what they need and appreciated they will always try to do a good job. If these essential elements are not provided to the work force — everyone suffers.
When our trauma of this episode is under control and the deep pain within us is somewhat lifted — I’m sure that the “leadership” in our family will stand up to the plate and assume the responsiblity of their part in helping to secure positive change at the Harford County detention center. We will welcome any and all who will aid in that endeavor. So there will come a point and time when voices will be welcomed, heard and expressed without fear of negative reprocussions. In the meantime, gather your thoughts, take good notes, attain a willingness to share and become proactive. It will take many voices to be heard in order to be effective in this problematic situation.
Unfortunately for our loved one, he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. He disobeyed man’s law and he accepted his consequence. I assure you, he did NOT go there to die. There is just too much information that indicates differently to us. I understand that drastic change must be secured and the steps that must be taken, must begin in the near future. I am sure that if he witnessed and experienced things there that were just wrong, he would have spoken out loudly about it. Now, his family will try to be his voice. He wasn’t a perfect man, he would be the first to say that he made his share of mistkes along the way -but- he was a good man, a very giving, kind man = “the shirt off his back if you needed it” type of guy. He made mistakes in his youth and paid the consequences. He believed in forgiveness of others; as well as forgiveness for himself. Some of the comments on here are so mean minded and just plain nasty. He would say we should always remember to temper our words with intelligence and compassion toward our fellow man. Several of you could learn from the expressions of Mike Welsh, Concerned Fiancee and Uncle Benny remembering that angry, vial remarks only breed and encourage discontentment and failure. It adds absolutely nothing to securing positive change for anyone; not to mention that you only demean yourself.
I wish I could extend an invitation for all of you to attend our loved ones service just so you could look and listen for yourselves as to how much love and support that this man did bring to others in his life. These remarks about him will be coming from people in all walks of life; from the wealthy as well as the poor. I feel that you would walk away believing that something went terribly wrong for him at the Harford County detention center – something that he did not expect or have control over, or that he was prepared to deal with.
In closing I will mention that he was an organ doner; he felt that with his very rare blood type, he could possibly help other human beings. His donated organs have saved and extended the lives of three people so far. Incidently, drug and alcohol abused organs are not transplanted into people in need. Those three people now will go on because of his love, kindness and concern for his fellow man. He didn’t always make the right decisions in the folly of his youth -but- some of us could learn some valuable lessons from him.
Please remember the organ recipiants in your prayers – and the kind man who gave them that gift of life.
He put himself in jail and took himself out of it. No one to blame but him. Sorry for your loss.
Jesse,
Sadly it is not as simple as your statement. Yes, the mans actions caused the court to place him in jail, and his ultimate action removed him from jail, but you know from your previous statements in this forum that it is not that simple.
I am not suggesting that we need to find something/someone to specifically blame for this, however to believe that nothing is wrong at the detention center, which if corrected would significantly reduce the number of deaths (including deaths such as this) is just ignoring the real elephant in the room.
You have commented that you worked at the detention center in the 80’s. Were successful suicides as common then as they are now? Was the number of deaths during your service at the jail as common as they are now? If not, what do you think has changed? Do we have a new normal at the jail, and that’s just the way its going to be? I hope not.
So this would be the second incident this month. Something needs to be done. There is no reason why these inmates should be treated the way they are. I speak from knowledge because my fiancé is there. This so-called psych doc is there once a week and “loses” 129’s that the inmates fill out. The CO’s are so worn out and exhausted because they are there for at least two shifts and back the next day. Every day there is something new. It’s not right. And families are losing their loved ones for no reason. It makes me sick.
Here is an idea…. why dont we put these “inmates” to work like they do down south? I dont see a problem with them picking up trash, cutting grass, clearing snow, etc.. Since we are paying for them to live at the jail b/c they screwed up lets atleast get some of our money back!
I don’t see a problem with that…but they done have enough man power at the facility to begin with…who is going to watch them and be accountable while they are giving back to the community? I’m sure most of the “inmates” would love the opportunity to give back.
Because Bane does not want to upset the inmates, or maybe he can’t provide the number of officer’s required to supervise them. You think Bane is going to be proactive? He can’t make up his mind on a good day…
haha, families are losing there loved ones for no reason. guess who fault that is, the person who is selfish an decides and decides to take his own life. lets get some facts start that you all assume. the subject most likely did not make it, he was not on constant watch and blame is only on him.
do you guys even have a clue how many people commit suicide on a daily basis in harford county. its a lot, if you dont believe me pull the reports. who fault is that, banes or the officers on the road, how bout there families? if a person wants to kill themselves, no one is going to be able to stop them. this is the problem with society, no one takes responsibility for their own actions. its easy to blame the system or someone else. its a joke and pathetic.
Since you seem to have a handle on suicide facts, do you know that suicide can be viewed as a “symptom” of a mental health issue? People don’t go around killing themselves for no reason. Yes I agree to a certain extent that it could be considered selfish but, someone who is that distraught is not capable of thinking about anything but their own pain. Are cancer patients to blame for their illness and death if they dont realize the severity or can not afford treatment? Are people with other physical illnesses to blame for their diagnosis? No. There may be contributing factors yes, but not complete blame. Suicide rates in Harford county are staggering, yes. But so is poverty, homelessness, drug abuse and mental illness. So, as opposed to blaming the victim and calling someone selfish, let’s take a moment to remember someone died and it could have been prevented. While the inmates are in the detention center they are under the care and supervision of the staff that work there. If you read what I actually wrote, there is no blame on any one person or group…just that people are dying senselessly. And yes, families are losing their loved ones due to a lot of factors. But it is no one in particular…especially not the deceased.
Just noticed the part stating that it’s pathetic and a joke. There is nothing funny about death. And the pathetic part is that there are millions of people, not just in this county that are suffering and decide to end it all and as opposed to helping, people are afraid of what they don’t understand and point fingers. The end.
Concerned fiancé, I am the daughter of Christopher Booth who too committed suicide in the HCDC, making it the eight. I would love to speak with you. My email is t_m_booth@yahoo.com. I look forward to hearing from you.
So when a person kills another, is that a mental health issue?
Do you think a mentally stable person would kill someone?
Courts find killers competent to stand trial every day.
Lots of problems at the Harford County Detention Center. Mental health care, while woefully lacking at the DC, is only the tip of the iceberg. You need to address the current Detention Center leadership as the first step in making significant improvements among the many ills at the DC. Once you have formed an effective leadership team, you need to adequately staff the facility. Failure to take these actions will prevent any real improvement at the DC.
Despite more attention to the problem, mental health treatment in MD remains a huge problem. Families are drained of their savings by greedy Doctor’s and a failed system.
My brother-in-law committed suicide years ago after the psychiatrist told him he would never get any better. Then the same psychiatrist committed suicide!
I am sorry for your loss. Any psychiatrist in their right mind would never tell a client they will never get better and leave it at that unless they continued by saying it would be something to live with and deal with along with proper treatment and care…following that, a psychiatrist in their right mind wouldn’t commit suicide either… Mental Health is a nationwide issue. Unfortunately it takes one tragedy after another for the powers that be to do something about it.
didn’t they just increase the budget for medical? Get what you pay for.
How long since there has been a “true” warden at the jail and not just the 2nd in command at the Sheriff’s Office popping his head in now and again? How long have the correctional officers been working double shifts? It is a terrible problem and it’s not going away.
Then why are we paying these people to run an organization with taxpayer money? If this was the private sector, everyone would be fired. Oh wait a minute, there is an election coming up and I am sure that there should be some interesting thoughts about how the jail should be run.
Officer’s have been working double shifts there since the place opened…I worked there in the 80’s and worked double shifts the entire summer.
Why are you no longer there? Have you retired from the Sheriff’s Office?
Retired and moved on.
As have many other good Officers. Thank you for your service.
Some of what is said here is true and some of it is completely off base. We have some of the finest officers of any agency in the world but the leadership is a joke. Sheriff Bane doesn’t allow his commanders to make any decisions, he has run off Capasso and replaced him with a group of bobble heads nodding Yes to anything he says. The officers are working long hours and the morale is as low as anyone has ever seen it. Despite all of the good ideas and observations the officer’s have, the only thing we ever hear from the command staff is petty complaints about dress codes (your undershirt is the wrong shade of navy blue, your hair barely touches your ear or collar, we won’t issue you anything for cold weather but you can’t wear anything you buy yourself with your uniform etc) That’s what we are paying a major and three captains to float around and do 40 hours/week while the officers are working 50-60 hours and trying to take care of inmates with an inmate/officer ratio of 50 to 1 or worse. Conmed is now completely in charge of special watches, they put people on watches and then they watch them. Having said all this, there is no gross negligence that is resulting in these deaths. The majority of the people we house there have mental illesses ranging from delusion, to anger control issues, to common depression. Everyone in there is depressed, they have let their friends/family down and are now locked in a giant human warehouse. There would be something odd about them if that situation wasn’t depressing. These guys that have their mind set on killing themselves have timed the officers’ tours and maximized their odds of a successful suicide attempt and unfortunately when someone goes to such great lengths to commit suicide it is hard if not impossible to prevent.
Well the officer’s voted for him…they got what they deserve. An incompetent Sheriff who smiles at the public and tells people what they want to hear. A real warden would not put up with his interference. It is true that he micro-manages every aspect of the office. He does not “trust” those supervisors under him to make decisions and will chastise them instead of encouraging them to develop into effective leaders. Everyone I know just wants to be able to do their jobs without Bane coming after them. He is doing more damage to the office than people know. Most don’t care, and that is the sad fact.
You say: “commed is in charge of all special watches”; I’ve never herd that term, what are special watches?
General population inmates are observed as part of routine. An inmate on special watch would be an inmate deemed to be a 15 minute or constant watch, requiring a more frequent observation and more extensive documentation than general population.ConMed is the medical contractors.
Addressing Trying to survive for 25: I’m still not understanding your comment of: “they put people on watches, and they watch them”; I don’t see how the Commed nurses station can be put in charge of watching inmates in a segragation cell? The location of that cell would make it “impossible” for them to take that responsibility? That has to be a guards responsibility.
you can tell in the above posts, who is questioning objectively and who is campaigning. People aren’t as dumb as some of the Gahler supporters think.
I would have to disagree when we have a guy heading up the office that Bane is the only one who has shown himself to be campaigning through his buddy promotions that have turned our once proud organization into a joke.
I don’t know where any of you get you information, your budget analysis, or medical advice for that matter. Perhaps before you comment or write about something you obviously do not have all the facts or details on, you should not provide any feedback at all. Whether you are a citizen of Harford County, have been an inmate at the Detention, or are just blatantly making statements you know nothing about, you should not pass judgement on anyone. If you are so concerned, don’t place yourself in these environments, hire attorneys to get your “loved ones” out of these horrible places, or better yet, run for office yourself and make this “place” better if you think you can. As for the officials, staff, medical personnel of Harford County, there has been no pay raise. There has been overtime. Days spent without their loved ones. All to keep this county safe. It is unfornate when someone decides to end their life and only they know when they will do it.
Before someone else jumps in and says it, we did just receive a 4% Cost Of Living Adjustment (COLA) the first in five years. After congress allowed the tax holiday to expire, my take home pay is only slightly less than it was five years ago.
A well deserved 4%. Now its time for the county to increase staffing at the Detention Center to achieve at least minimum staffing levels.
If Bane had been an efficient fiscal manager these past 5 years the Sheriff’s Office would be in much better shape than it is. Blame those who voted for him. When will people realize that Bane cannot make a sound decision? His bungling of the HCSO technology needs has cost every officer and every citizen in this county. Wasted tax dollars…unbelievable!
Is there an update to this article? Was this man successful in his attempt to take his life?
I’ve been asking for two days and haven’t gotten any response. Stay tuned.
Thank you Aaron. I was in hope that the information flow would improve with the new PIO hire. Perhaps the Sheriff’s Office does not know if he was successful. How scary is that!
Remember, last time it took a few weeks to get confirmation: http://www.daggerpress.com/2012/11/19/bane-harford-county-detention-center-inmate-died-following-early-nov-hanging/.
I guess it is a matter of new spokesperson, same Bane. Where do you think the problem with a lack of response is?
Yes I remember. I also commented on that article. Appears nothing has changed.
In the end of Monica Worrell she started to say more and more which made the command staff mad. The Sheriff’s Office is in shambles not because of the rank and file but because of the command staff. Jesse Bane and command staff keep up the great work, you will be known for doing a piss poor job. I hope your proud
An imploding Sheriff’s Office. Absolute power corrupts absolutely. A lesson Bane forgot to learn. (Or he forgot…)
Our agency will not implode or self destruct as some of you have implied. The officers will continue to fight through the adversity that includes not only the standard difficulties of the job but the additional issues caused by command. Unfortunately many good officers will be lost as they leave for better opportunities or fall victim to command’s scapegoating but the remaining officers will continue to trudge along as they always have. To Mike Welsh, the information flow does not really change with the PIO. The PIO is simply a translater that takes our LE/CO crude information and turns it into a well written report that is more public friendly. Regardless of the PIO, the information passes through the same filter, that is the HCSO command staff.
It can certainly be run more efficiently with higher morale. This can be accomplished with effective leadership, one that reinforces values, creates a positive learning environment for employees, and does not look to blame officer’s for every petty thing. When morale reaches an all-time low and safety becomes an issue then yes it will implode.
Aaron, have you received any updated information yet regarding this article? An alleged family member has posted that the man died on Tuesday as a result of the hanging incident while incarcerated at the Harford County Detention Center.
Yup, we’re aware and I’ve reached out to that person.
Getting an official line on this has gotten a little more complicated; hoping to have some more details to post soon.
Thank you for staying on this.
I believe that it is in extremely poor taste to report details of a suicide. I realize that the problems at the detention center are newsworthy. However, the details of this deceased man’s life have nothing to do with the problems at the facility. Out of respect for his family, keep your comments about the detention center and it’s issues. Otherwise, you are only hurting the family who is reading these distasteful comments. Whatever happened to “treat people as you would want to be treated?” What if your loved one committed suicide? Would you expect the details or misdeeds of their life discussed by people who didn’t even know him/her? Be respectful or be quiet. Just a thought.
So a healthy discussion is not supposed to occur? How else can change be made unless issues are brought to light? Ignorance of the people leads to bad things.
This is very sad . Harford County has many issues that are not being dealt with.I know all to well .But discussing this situation and bringing up the past of this young man makes no since at all.Please think about the family .Do you think they havent read all of this I assure they have.Let them have peace at this time of loss .No matter what happend The man has passed on .Have some respect.
Robin, it was the family that began the discussion on what kind of person he was. If you look at the dates of the posts, all of the discussion related to the detention center and the suicide problem as a whole until they came in with wild accusations of a “possible homicide” and painted us a picture of a model citizen with no reason to be depressed. The truth is that he had a significant history with drugs, which is more often than not, linked to depression. He was not moved because of depression and his history would not trigger any warning signs to us because it is nearly identical to everyone else in there.
Fair is Fair, Since you know that this man was not moved into segregation because of depression, please share with us the reason he was moved.
The family has already told everyone, he wasn’t getting along with the population in the dorm. He wanted to be moved and then throw in concerned phone calls about him being in the dorm resulted in him being moved. He was likely given the option to play well with others or go to isolation where he wouldn’t have to worry about any other inmates. His decision should be fairly obvious at this point and we will never know if he was already planning the suicide and getting to isolation was part of it or if he made the decision once he ended up there.
So you really don’t know why he was moved into segregation? Like many of us, you don’t know very many facts regarding this incident. Since the facts must come from the Sheriff’s Office it is likely we will never know the facts of this incident. One fact we do know is that this death is the 9th at the Detention Center in the six years that Jesse Bane has been Sheriff. Should this trend continue, the count will probably be 11 by the time Sheriff Bane is asking us to reelect him to another four year term.
There is only so much I can say, I’ve got a family to feed and bills to pay. When an inmate “taps out” of a dorm, it can be because they are trying to be housed with friends or they don’t like the temperature of the dorm or they really can’t get along in there. Rather than let them dictate where they are housed they get their dorm assignment, if they don’t like it then they can choose to stay or go to seg. When the situation gets to the point the family is calling in chances are you are going to seg. I’m not going to express exactly my vantage point of the situation that would be foolish.
Fair is Fair.
Yes, if it would reveal your identity and cost you your job I would not reveal information. That said, it is a very sad for the Sheriff’s Office when revealing the truth about what happened places certain elements/people in harms way. I am sorry that you have to work under those circumstances.
It is a shame that good people have to work in fear. I’m sure the correctional officers who were working the day this guy committed suicide are scared that they will be the scapegoats and the next to be terminated. That is Bane’s reaction when something goes wrong at the jail–placing the blame on someone else and making people think he is “doing something” when all he is doing is pointing fingers and ignoring real problems.
It is good to see more of the Sheriff’s Office members coming out and about the issues at the Detention Center. Jesse rules by intimidation through his head hunters. I hope more step forward and bring more out in the open. People who sing Bane’s praises only know the public Jesse. The Jesse who runs this department now is calculated and lacks integrity.
I am so glad I am not the only one angry about the running of the HCDC. I have a loved one that is in there and he told them on day one that he was taking several prescribed medicines that he has been on for several years. After a week and a half, he still had not started receiving his medicines. Any dr. in that facility should know the importance of someone on prescribed medicine to continue taking it as soon as possible. I even offered to bring up his prescriptions so he could just continue taking them. But of course that is not allowed. And then he was moved to isolation to be watched because he made a comment on the phone that he didn’t know how long he could handle it in there. He is allowed out for one hour from his cell a day to take a shower and make a phone call. The drs. don’t even talk to him but keep deciding he needs to stay in isolation. I am sure not be able to talk to loved ones as much as he could before and being kept by himself is really making him feel better. And also, his order from commissary for the week got lost somehow because he was moved so he was told he would have to wait till the following week to receive anything he ordered. How screwed up is it that they couldn’t just let him order and fill it right away to give him sonething to feel good about. And when they first moved him into isolation and he hadn’t been able to call anyone for almost 24 hours, I called up to the detention center to see what was going on. I was told he was still in the detention center but they couldn’t tell me anything else. Do they not even care that there are some people in there that have people on the outside that love them and get scared and worried not knowing anything. My loved one didn’t try to commit suicide, only made an off the wall comment out of frustration of not knowing how long he will be there and will now probably be put over the edge by the way they are treating him. When will they remember that alot of people there are only there for a short time for various reasons and deserve better than what they are getting.
LTH: There are things that you can do to help your loved one at HCDC.
Contact his physician that prescribed for him; explain how he has been taken off his meds and ask him to write a letter stating that it is imperative for him to resume his meds asap. Then, write a letter to Mr. Sheriff Bane voicing your concerns and request that he be placed back on his meds asap. Have other family members sign the letter. Request a response letter from him notifying you when he was started on his meds again. Send it as registgered mail and hold on to your record of it. We must become the voice for our incarcerated family members or accept what the institution is doing and getting away with. Develop your “POA”, your “plan of acttion”; go through the right channels of authority and allign yourself with success sending a loud and clear message that you care about what happens to the one you love.
We can not afford for these types of situations to just “slide by”; we must become pro-active in our attempts to help them. There are “overseeers” over all the staff, no matter what level they are at. We must educate ourselves on Maryland and Federal laws governing what they do; we must become aware of their policy and procedures on the services that, by law, they are to provide to our loved ones.
When we hear of “wrong things” that are happening at HCDC, we must question it and once we are sure that our facts are straight, we must “blow the whistle loud and clear”; we must knock on the right doors, speak with the right people and created attention to what is wrong. Don’t just stand by feeling helpless, be a part of the solution.
We’ve all read enough and heard enough to know that the HCDC has a meca of unacceptable problems from the top all the way down to the lower ranks of employees. We have all listened to the whining and crying about how bad their work environment is, how unsatisfied they are with their jobs and their employer, how they are afraid to speak up because of their fear of loosing their jobs, how they have been subjected to and witnessed situations that are just wrong.
Yet, they continue to show up every day, punch their time card and collect their paychecks. I can no longer sympathize with them. They are lazy in their actions to create a better work environment for themselves or the environment of the people that they are “suppose” to be providing services for.
For gosh sakes, they have a UNION. They should be airing their differences, reporting what is wrong and attempting to secure the positive changes that are needed. They are obviously lacking in their diligence to do so. ATTENTION STAFF: use your union; that’s what you pay your union dues for!
We the family members have been lazy also. We, along with the citizens of Harford County, have let too many things slide. We feel bad about what happens to our loved ones, friends and neighbors at HCDC -but- do we feel bad enough to do something? Some of us are trying, but it takes a unified group of voices. The Sheriff, medical group and staff are not “gods”, they are not untouchable; they have to follow laws, policies and procedures -or- there are consequenses for them. When we knock or the right doors and speak to the right people, document the right letters we can secure change. Once they become aware that people are watching, checking, documenting and reporting what is wrong: then they have NO choice but to take a good look for themselves and work toward effective, viable solutions to their many problem areas. Then they become attentive, they work together toward doing it right (not perfect -but- better). Then it becomes a better work enviornment for them and a better environment for the inmates.
We all agree that some of the things that have been permitted to go on there MUST change. The existing administration is aware of the needs, yet for whatever reasons, has NOT done what is necessary to make the changes. A lot of it has to do with funding, money. It’s obvious that “the powers that be” overextended themseles on the “new building” exhausting the money available to them and they have had to make serious cuts in their budget; and when you go to cutting out things that are really important (like a warden and the staffing), things just fall through the cracks; things get missed, essentials get dropped and things happen that shouldn’t. I know from our famiy’s crisis there, that there were things that happened that should NOT have!
Fortunately, we do have a strong advocate out there. His name is
Mr. Gahler. I have not had the pleasure of meeting him -but- I’ve researched him. I consider him one of the “GOOD GUYS”. He has voiced his opinion very loudly, has stood behind what he said with a willingness to clarify further; and he has committed himself to creating the public’s awareness. I believe him to be a fair man who does not play the part of an “ostrich”. Thank you Mr. Gahler.
What do I hope to get out of using my valualbe time and energy in this blog? It is my blessed hope to do my part in sustaining public awareness on how these important issues affect the lives of the inmates at HCDC; to “lite” a fire under some of you who have the knowlege and ability to take an active part in the changes that need to be made;
We can be like the staff at HCDC by airing our discontentment, complain about the broken system, its poor administration and management, by crying and whining about what’s wrong and not fair -or- we can do the right thing.
Well, we have something in common. My fiancé was just put into isolation because of months of being ignored and neglected by the care of a psychiatrist. I spoke to so many people about this and today he calls me from isolation. They didn’t even talk to him about anything. Just threw him in there. And now there’s nothing I can do. If he had been seen any of the times he had sent in a request, or any of the times I called, it never would have gotten this far! So now because I stood up for what is right, he’s suffering in isolation. Where he can’t talk to me or his kids, can’t have his personal propriety or his commissary items. I am furious.
I confused. If he can’t talk to you or the kids, how did he call you from isolation? If you feel that he is being abused and/or mistreated by the HCDC or medical staff, please contact your attorney and request their assistance.
He had 15 minutes to call me. He has an hour out and 23 in. I’ve been looking for an attorney and have come up empty handed. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
When you say that you have come up empty handed, is it because the attorneys have listened to you describe your concerns/case and feel that you don’t have a case, or is because of other issues?
Because I can’t find a lawyer dealing with mental health issues that want to deal with someone who’s incarcerated. They all tell me how horrible the HCDC is but that I need someone who advocates for mental health and inmate rights. Haven’t found one yet. It’s very frustrating.
Look in the phone book and call those who practice civil litigation. Not saying that you will have success, but if there is provable wrongdoing or a denial of service by the health providers at the HCDC you should be able to find someone to help you.
Thank you Mr. Welsh.
If the staff speak there minds, and sticks up for people they we be demoted or fired. Union can’t always help
The CO union is part of the problem. In the last election, they endorsed Sheriff Bane. Do the Correctional Officers really think they have effective union leadership?
Hard to have an effective Union when things discussed are reported back to Bane by his drones. People just don’t get it yet. Bane is a tyrant dictator who plays his people against each other. He rewards the faithful with perks and passes on rule and regulation infractions. Why do we have a Captain from the jail driving a Major from uptown around during the day? Why can’t he hire a warden but promote and make new positions at the cost of $330,00.00 dollars. Promote a Major who just passed the bar to a position of “Legal Advisor” for the department. Why then does the County have a Law Department? Bane was kept on a short leash the four years Mele was Sheriff. Not short enough to get Mele four more years. This is Jesse, he has always been this nasty person who has no problem with telling a lie. Other members are starting to come forward to speak out loud Bane’s dirty laundry. I hope enough people read and believe this. The Sleagis will never speak ill of Liberal Bane, they will hide his dirt. Listen to the people who work there, they have first hand knowledge and live this nightmare daily.
If I needed legal advise I think I would want someone with some experience advising me. Not someone who studied for his promotional exams while working instead of making cases and investigating crimes. Then again this seems to fit Bane’s method of operation.
Especially if the “drones” are the people in union leadership positions. Time for the regular folks to get rid of the drones!
The Depuries Union paid for Sheriff Banes last election run. They control Bane so they paid for Bane. It is as simple as that.
I’m glad LTH posted on here because people can see the extremely difficult situation this is. Here we were lucky enough to hear the gentleman make statements that indicated he might harm himself and place him somewhere that we could prevent that. As many have said in these forums, there is no way to prove whether we prevented a suicide so every time that someone is placed on a watch and does not commit suicide we will be dealing with these families getting upset.
“Victim” of #9 I hope you do continue to do research and eliminate some of the errors from your argument. The jail DOES NOT have a union, it has a correctional association which is like saying a handful of us meet in a garage sometimes to talk about work. One judge or semi-wealthy local business owner could contribute more funding to a campaign than our entire association. On top of that, the person generally speaking for our association could suffer serious career ramifications if he really tries to accomplish anything with the sheriff. You hold it against the officers that they continue to clock in and come to work every day. Would it help your family any if our families were put out on the street due to lack of income? Would it help any inmate’s family if the quality officers we have now stopped coming to work and they were forced to quickly hire a bunch of less qualified candidates? I think not. People should recognize who is their opponent and who is on their side, there isn’t an officer out there that wants to see any inmate leave that building in any other manner than walking out the IPC compound. You will accomplish a lot more if you accept that they are trying to improve the place and keep everyone alive. That it is the mismanagement of resources and a power tripping quack psych doctor that you need to focus your efforts on.
DWP……If you have what it takes to effectively run your union, get active. If you feel the union leader is in a duty position that compromises his ability to negotiate for the union body, get active.
Step up……………or shut up.
Let me ask you Mr. DualWieldingTourPipes: As your meeting in “the garage” to talk about work, are you defining for yourselves just where the weakness’ are in your program? Are you discussing vialble options and solutions to strengthen those weakness’? Employees should always be encouraged to input their suggestions and views on building and maintaining a strong work environment. I find it difficult to conceive that there is no such avenue in place at your facility? First priority to me would seem to be “safety” for everybody.
For example: Research tells us that Suicide in correctional settings account for 1/3 of the deaths in those facilities nationwide; that the mojority of those deaths occur in detention centers and small jails within the 1st thirty days of an inmates stay.
Since the HCDC has an “extreme” amount of these types of deaths (for as small as the HCDC is), do we know that the staff, especially the guards who are usually the 1st responders, have available to them the PPE (personal protective equipment) that is necessary in an attempt to save someone’s life??? Federal and state laws MANDATE that 1) the PPE equipment is available to the 1st responders, 2) that the staff be “ADEQUATELY” trained to use it and to perform the imperative services.
If the PPE is not available -or- the necessary training has not been provided, and updated as the laws require, then the responsibility falls on the administrators in charge.
Now, since the majority of these “suicides” appear to be happening in the segragation cells and the event can happen in a very short period
of time — doesn’t past experiences tell us that inamates in segragation need intense, ongoing monitoring both audio and visual? Just trying
to give an example of “possible” areas that may need to be strenghthened in order to save a human life.
It’s been proven that inmates placed in segragation cells can emotionally deteriorate very quickly; thus, any and all methods of prevention are extremely necessary at this point. To save a life should be of the utmost importance and value to all of us.
No one wants to see anbody loose their job without justification.
When employees have first hand knowlege of what is wrong in their work environment yet, continue to be complacent and compliant as to not “cause waves” they make it easy for their administration to point the finger of fault at them when something “big” happens. They will always be looking for the “fall guy”. The blame usually lands on the “little guy” and, it’s much harder at that point to speak out about
what was wrong and caused it to happen in the first place. The point is, there’s not much job security in that either. If your union leader is not representing your needs and concerns — work to replace him/her! You do have some control over that. That’s your voice — that’s why you pay; your leadership is suppose to be a benefit to you — not a liability.
Agreed, inmates in isolation are far more likely to harm themselves for a number of reasons. The officers know this and have made suggestions. We do not work in a democracy, if a member of command staff says issue each segregation inmate 15 foot of paracord then that’s what they get, we don’t get to meet and discuss it. Now in that instance I think we could refuse and take it to court but two bed sheets (which might as well be a length of rope) are a different story. It is not that any union representative would be more effective than another, it’s that our association currently lacks the legal support and authority to do any of the things you suggest.
For any organization, union, association, etc., who you have in leadership positions is always important. Your belief that any union representative would be as effective as another is just plain wrong. Without effective leadership, no matter who your officers affiliate themselves for collective representation, you will not be able to accomplish your goals.
The same applies to the leadership of the jail staff. If you are having significant problems on a day to day basis, and those problems don’t get solved, then leadership is a large part of your problem. Capable effective leaders solve problems, they don’t become part of the problem.
Amen!
Our association representative is an employee of the sheriff’s office and does not have any protection if he were to really attempt to stand up to the sheriff. He could beg and plead or be as reasonable as possible and the sheriff simply has to say “yes” or “no”. I don’t believe that he is doing a bad job or that any other officer could do any better. We could have someone from outside the agency represent us but the sheriff could refuse to speak to them or simply hold everything they do against the board members of the union that are employees. Without the legal protections that a real labor union has, we are simply a group of people that agree there is a problem and are actually in a compromised position to do anything about it. I totally agree that leadership is an issue, but much like any job you can not simply vote your bosses away. The sheriff is the only one and a very large portion of the detention center staff are not harford county residents so we can only hope that the county votes in our favor.
How is your association different from the law enforcement Deputies Union? Their leadership are employees of the Sheriff’s Office. What protections do they have that your officers don’t have. They are certainly a more effective group than your organization.
Why is your association different than the Deputies Union? Is it how you are organized, or is it who you have affiliated your organization with? If you are not affiliated with a national organization should you? A national organization brings collective numbers and benefits to assist you when dealing with an employer who is mistreating employees.
Look up Article 27, Section 727 of the Maryland Annotated code, the law enforcement officer’s bill of rights. Specifically look up Subtitle 1 Section 3-107 of the Public Safety article dealing with a law enforcement officer’s legal right to a hearing board when an agency’s punishment results in demotion,dismissal, transfer, loss of pay, reassignment, or any action considered punitive. Correctional officers are not legally afforded these rights. There are many other reasons why they are not in the position LEO’s are in such as greater public support for police vs. corrections, quantity of members, sheriffs are generally elected for their policing experience and not their correctional expertise, etc. but the legal difference is a big one.
Are you saying that Sheriff Bane has not extended the LEOBR provisions to Correctional Officers?
Do the CO’s not receive a impartial hearing if accused of wrongdoing?
Voicing the concerns of the Officers you represent in an effective manner could hardly be categorized as improper behavior. This is why it is so very important to select someone who has the wherewithal to represent the group in an effective manner. Your current leader does not possess those skills.
Hello Mr. Suit and Tie: That is one of those “things” that is just wrong! LEO’s and correctional guards both put their lives on the line everyday. Has anyone inquired as to what would have to happen to change that? They are giving the co’s a message that “their safety” does not matter as much. How are they suppose to feel appreciated for what they do on the front line everyday? If there’s a problem at work, why shouldn’t correctional officers have their right to express their point of view on the situation before big decisions in their lives are made?
Why is it that they differentiate your rights in that way?
I am so grateful people are finally beginning to speak out against the things going on at HCDC. I am aware of some very disturbing things going on there as I am writing this post. I am very afraid for the physical safety of a dear friend there. I would very much like to speak to anyone who would be willing to put a stop to this before something bad happens. I am actually reluctant to post here for fear of retaliation, but am at a loss at this point. I am a 44 year old white woman who is a resident of Harford county, with a good job, graduate degree, no criminal record, former long term girlfriend of a Maryland State TFC, and extremely pro law enforcement. I reveal this information so everyone will know if I see a problem, it must really be a problem. If anyone wants to contact me or is interested in my assistance, please post your contact information, and I will gladly respond. I am somewhat versed in criminal law and have a basic knowledge of the workings and players in the Harford county judicial system. With that being said, even I am having trouble solving my friend’s issues in the HCDC.
Marc0189@verizon.net
Hello “Have Seen Enough”: I am a relative of Victim #9, who we know as Norm. I don’t believe I’ve seen you post here before? Welcome. It seems Marc Eaton has picked up your request. I’m sorry for the stress that you and your friend are going through. You said “before something bad happens” — bad things have already happened there — people have died!
The problems at HCDC have tentacles — they have been “reaching out” not only to the staff and their families -but- severely impacting on the families and loved ones of the inmates. The Co’s providing direct services are especially affected. The situation at HCDC does not get better until like minded people stand together and insist — because it’s the “RIGHT” thing to do.
I acknowledge your courage “reaching” out in the right direction and for your willingness to be a part of securing the needed changes. Once I had a boss who said to me: “If you don’t let me know it’s broken — I can’t help to fix it”! That’s what we’re dealing with here — a system that is broken and needs to be fixed. It can only be repaired if the problems are clearly defined – diagnosed and treated. Then, the system can go on to function at much higher levels for everyone. I feel we can all agree on that.
You can leave your email address with Aaron Cahall and I’ll contact him for it. Thank You again for stepping toward the plate! Norm’s Relative
Best bet is to use our contact form at http://www.daggerpress.com/contact-the-dagger/.
Leave your e-mail, and I’ll make sure it gets passed along.
Hello “Have Seen Enough”: I am a relative of Victim #9, who we know as Norm. I don’t believe I’ve seen you post here before? Welcome. It seems Marc Eaton has picked up your request. I’m sorry for the stress that you and your friend are going through. You said “before something bad happens” — bad things have already happened there — people have died!
The problems at HCDC have tentacles — they have been “reaching out” not only to the staff and their families -but- severely impacting on the families and loved ones of the inmates. The Co’s providing direct services are especially affected. The situation at HCDC does not get better until like minded people stand together and insist — because it’s the “RIGHT” thing to do.
I acknowledge your courage “reaching” out in the right direction and for your willingness to be a part of securing the needed changes. Once I had a boss who said to me: “If you don’t let me know it’s broken — I can’t help to fix it”! That’s what we’re dealing with here — a system that is broken and needs to be fixed. It can only be repaired if the problems are clearly defined – diagnosed and treated. Then, the system can go on to function at much higher levels for everyone. I feel we can all agree on that.
I may be just another listening ear but, at the least, maybe I can help you with your “fear of retalliation”. You can leave your email address with Aaron Cahall and hopefully he will be so kind as to forward it to me via email. Thank You again for stepping toward the plate! Norm’s Relative