Police Misconduct Blog

In the early hours of December 18, Irene Chavez was arrested at a gay bar on the South Side of Chicago. Before noon, she was pronounced dead after police found her hanging by her shirt in her cell.
The 33-year-old Chavez had been arrested for an alleged misdemeanor of simple battery. She...

Antonio May (32) died on September 11, 2018, the same day he entered Atlanta's Fulton County Jail. More than three years later, on November 16, 2021, a grand jury has indicted six deputies on charges of felony murder, battery, aggravated assault, and violation of oath of office.
According to...

It’s been termed the “hidden epidemic.” People held in jail have generally not been convicted of a crime, yet they die there in substantial numbers. It is a growing problem nationally, and one city newspaper’s investigative reporting examines the issue in...

Justice for Rikers Island Inmates Rikers Island is a small 413 acre island in the middle of New York’s East River. It is also the home of New York City’s primary jail complex. For years, the city has promised to close the archaic facility and replace it with a network of modern...

Here is a fact that most people don’t know. 41 percent of jail suicides happen within the first week of incarceration. Those figures come from the federal Bureau of Justice Statistics. A significant percentage of suicides also happen in the next two weeks.
Jail suicides have become a...

The family of a young Louisville mother seeks answers to her death while in custody in a Southern Indiana jail. She had bruises on her face at the time of her demise. She also had a fever and vomited just before she died. Attorneys for the family claim Jackson County Jail officials ignored her...

In July, a surprise inspection of the Oklahoma County Jail by the state Health Department resulted in the facility being barred from holding juveniles. In addition, inspectors found that procedures were violated in the June 24th death in custody of an adult detainee.
Lee Chouteau, 31, was...

On June 29, South Carolina’s Department of Corrections received approval of a $6 million settlement for victims of the deadly 2018 riot at Lee Correctional Institution (LCI). The riot left seven dead, more than 12 injured, and spawned more than 80 lawsuits.
The lawsuits alleged that...

In 2019, Tyrique Tookes, 18, complained of chest pains while in custody at Georgia’s Fulton County Jail (FCJ). Days later, he was dead. His family filed a lawsuit in May 2021 alleging medical neglect on the part of the facility’s healthcare workers was the cause of his...

A New York City Department of Corrections captain was indicted on April 26 on charges of criminally negligent homicide and filing false reports. Rebecca Hillman, 38, a captain at Manhattan’s notorious Manhattan Detention Complex, better known as The Tombs, allegedly believed inmate Ryan...