RESPONSE FROM THE DEPUTY TO CASSI

Kay,

Here’s my 2^nd response to Ms. McDaniel’s letter.  She, nor I, forwarded it to you to be posted on the website.  My words will be different from my first letter because I didn’t save it.  However, the concept is the same.  My comments are inside the text of her letter & they’re in blue.  Would you please see that this is posted on the website so any readers will get both sides of the story & draw their own conclusions?  As always, thanks for your help.

Jeff Price

SCSOR 38

Monday, September 13, 2004

KayLee
I have thought all weekend about this letter from our deputy. His responses are really and truly unsettling.

You made a comment about where there is smoke there is fire, basically saying that the inmates are screaming that the jailors are causing fire. He reimbursed your statement by saying, "I've found that when dealing with people on the wrong side of the criminal justice system that when you get through the smoke, the accused is the cause of the fire."  In this case, isn't the accused the jailors??????

It might be true if the jailors were making the accusations, correct?  They are not; it’s the inmates (families) that are making the accusations. 

Then he rambles on about a guy saying he had nothing in his pockets, he found it to be a lie because of a pocket knife? Most men carry a pocket knives in their pockets, everyday of their life; to those men a pocket knife is not anything dangerous - It would be the same as having loose change. If I was asked if I had anything in my pockets I might respond no to something so common.  Who ever thinks about the things like that? If he found a quarter would he still think of that man as a liar?

I asked the man a simple question & he was not truthful.  If a police officer comes up to me, late at night & in the middle of nowhere & asks if I had anything in my pockets, I’d tell him about my knife, loose change, lint, chewing gum, etc.  A pocket knife is inherently dangerous depending on which side of it you’re on.  A knife is designed to be a weapon, correct?  How about a syringe?  It’s not necessarily a weapon, but wouldn’t you want to know if there’s one in somebody’s pocket before you stuck your hand in it?  I didn’t just pick this person out of a crowd.  Don’t you think I might have had a reason to search him?  I did it for my safety.  Guns are a very common thing for people around here.  Does that make it ok to carry & not say anything if asked just because it’s “common”?  Drugs are pretty common too.  So are fishing hooks.  Where do you draw the line when you talk about officer safety?  By the way, I didn’t arrest the person.  Nor did I hit him with the patrol car, shoot him with my firearm or even squirt him with pepper spray.

Why would Stevens County house people who are acting out violently in a drunk tank? If someone is violent wouldn't they be put in a solitary type situation for days to calm down? The drunk tank does not have beds, only a bench. Even so, what if there are violent people in the tank, then what are they doing with the drunks? Putting them in general population DRUNK......

If someone gets violent, they get put all by themselves until they calm down.

Let me get this right... There was an inmate who broke his back in 3 places.  Was that provoked? What about the inmate who broke his collar bone?  Was that provoked?

Provoked by whom?  Are you saying that a jailor broke his back?  I don’t think so.  If I remember correctly, this person was injured while under the influence of some kind of drug or alcohol.  He refused (not denied) medical treatment.  After he was booked in, he came down from his high & started to feel the pain.  Contrary to popular belief, if a person is conscience & denies treatment, it’s not my place (by law) to go against his/her request.  If he/she tells me they don’t want a doctor, I can’t make them see one.

Better yet, let's just throw all of that out.  What I really am confused about is, if the jail thinks that it is a self-provoked injury, is he saying that they REFUSE medical care for those situations?

Again, if a person is conscience enough to refuse treatment, we cannot, by law, make them see a doctor.

To use a case scenario of inmates lying for just something to do, and compare it to a man and a woman breaking up their relationship, let me tell you what I know A LOT of women and NONE of them ever behaved that way. I am sure some may have, but certainly not all. It is not only women that behave like that. My ex-husband broke into my house when I filed for divorce and stole my gun, perfume, soap, shampoo, conditioner, ALL my underwear, and jewelry.

Your ex-husbands behavior is an excellent example of what I’m talking about.  Think about it, he took things of yours that he could possible have no use for; perfume, underwear & jewelry.  He did it to get under your skin & make you react to his actions.  He had control over you by making you go buy all that stuff again, right?  What if he would have taken a shovel from the garage?  Not much effect, huh?  You see, it’s all about control. 

Sounds like "Deputy " Price also has several issues with women, I HOPE he is not in the women's facility. How can he compare a lie to a psychotic, stalking suicidal woman?

I have no issues with women.  I’ve only been married once & that’s been for the last 13 years to the same woman.  She’s in charge & we both know it. 

It is sad that he is trying to make the jail sound soooooooo good by hiring a physician's assistant, when it was ordered for them to do it a long time ago. It was Treva from Don Garrison's office who ordered Steven's county to get this handled awhile back. Why is it
they didn't do it when it was ordered for them to do?

It has something to do with money.  You can’t spend what you don’t have, plus something like that has to be approved, but not by Don Garrison’s office.  The Physicians Assistant (PA) has been wanted for quite some time.  There’s no telling how much money it would save by having someone in the jail that can legally look at an injury & filter out the fakes & treat legitimate injuries & prescribe medications.  I would bet that once a PA is on board, there will be fewer requests to go to the hospital, too.  It would save literally thousands of dollars.  Really, there’s no downside to it.  The inmates would get better medical care & the money saved could be spent buying better gear for the jailors & deputies.  If I were you, I’d send letters to every elected official listed on your website & demand they approve it.

Then again you have to wonder if one is hired, will they see things the same way the jailors do and refuse the inmates help, or is Steven's count scared the physicians assistant WON'T see it their way and she could help bring them down.....

Like I said, write your letters & demand it get approved.  I’m not afraid of what a PA would find, are you?  Could a PA contradict what you all have been saying?  I guess we’ll have to wait & see.

Like I stated, there is soooooo much that disturbs me in the deputy's statements. I just don't understand how someone this hostile against human life, (and yes it is very obvious in his emails that he is hostile ) could even justify to his own self, why he works with, stereo typically speaking, "the most difficult kind of people there is".

I’m not hostile toward human life.  If I were, surely you can find an inmate who will say I’ve abused them or denied them of something.  If my straight forward approach to common sense is considered hostile, then so be it.  I won’t sit here & let hostility & mis-information run unchecked.

Cassi McDaniel
cassimc@msn.com