JAIL STAFF LACKS DISCIPLINE
Many Dallas Count Jail administrators and guards behave as if they own the people in their custody. They can regularly be caught projecting a sense of superiority because of the job position they hold. The sheriff's office uniform they wear lends them some sort of unspoken but unlimited creditability. This mentality coupled with the sheriff's office complicity spearheads and encourages the daily mistreatment and abuse of prisoners and pre-trial detainees at the jail. I speak to you from personal experience having myself been assaulted twice at the Dallas County Jail. The Sheriff's office whitewashed each incident with the ease of people accustomed to cover-ups.
Two guards in particular, who are notoriously known among the prisoners for harassing, abusing and assaulting detainees at the jail are Mr. Lewis and Jay R. Abell. These two rogues work the government center/George Allen Building and they constantly kept the place in turmoil.
On March 24th, 2005, these two guards removed me and a couple other detainees from our cell block. They took us to a holding cell where they attempted to provoke an incident with each us. These guards grabbed my hands and arms and slammed me to the ground. Then a guard named Shaw helped hold me down while officer Abell kicked me in the head several times causing me to have a seizure. I was taken to medical but no use of force report was ever written up. Complaints to the Sheriff office about this incident resulted in no disciplinary action being taken against any of the guards involved.
On May 8, 2005 a female guard refused to feed myself and others our dinner trays. I put my arm out of the food slot to flag her down and requested to speak to a supervisor. That is when the guard, Jay R. Abell, came down to our cell block and began hitting my arm with his fist and kicking it with his boot. He took out the jail keys he used to open and close doors and began stabbing me repeatedly in the arm until my arm was bleeding. This was witnessed by several other detainees as well as the female guard responsible for feeding us.
Jay R. Abell, guard Lewis and two other unknown guards came to the cell block and ordered me to come out of my cell. They took me back to the holding cell on the 11th floor where I had previously been assaulted and locked me in there.
Sergeant Sanders and Officer Lunsford were called to the 11th floor. The guards went into the office with the Sergeant and told her their version of the story; but of course, they left out the fact that Jay R. Abell assaulted me.
When Sergeant Sanders came out I tried to tell her my side of the story but she did not want to listen. It was not until I showed Officer Lunsford my bloody arm that he called the Sergeant back. Once she saw the injury I sustained for herself, she began to question me as to how it happened. She told Lunsford to take me to get medical attention. Then she took the guards back into the office, asked them how I got hurt, and found out that the guard, Jay R. Abell had hit, kicked and repeatedly stabbed me.
The facility commander Captain Langford was called to the jail from his home. That is when the cover up and whitewash went into full gear. He took a picture of my arm which had been bandaged and put in a sling. In an attempt to cover up the matter he instructed and authorized the female officer that refused to feed us to write up a disciplinary report stating that I had allegedly disrupted the feeding process. Later on Sergeant Sanders delivered the disciplinary report to me and refused to obtain the statements of witnesses I wished to call on my behalf.
I was transferred from the jail seventeen days later. Complaints and grievances filed by my family and I to Sheriff Lupe Valdez and Internal Affairs supervisor Lt. Judy Pharr were to no avail.
I am currently under the care of a specialist for injuries to my arm. A formal criminal complaint has been lodged and is still pending with the Dallas District Attorney's office against guard Jay R. Abell for his unprofessional and illegal actions on May 8, 2005.
It is also worthy to note that the guard, Jay R. Abell, is a recent hire at the Sheriff's office and was on probationary status during the assaults mentioned in this letter. Given time, Abell will most surely become the basis for lawsuits against the sheriff's department. Wouldn't it be cheaper to discipline him now?Lakeith Amir-Sharif
