Aldeer.com Forums Alabama Deer Talk Aldeer General Forum Walker County jail

This sure is a disappointing read.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news...ce-brutality-mental-illness/88867411007/

The Gov needs to remove him as Sheriff and clean house with the rest.

Look up “the Goon Squad” and Sheriff of Rankin County Mississippi. We got ‘em, too.

There's a mob of folks that stay after him. Every opportunity they get to bash him, they do it. Its the folks that are constantly interacting with the law. You know, the ones that have a visit from the law every damn weekend because they can't seem to stop shoving Margaret around after 15 or 30 natty lights. The ones that get pulled over for expired tags and no insurance and guess what, a failure to appear warrant for the last time they got ticketed. Then there's the crowd that defends the damn dope heads and dealers that the WCSO bust. Saying they're good folks and just need help. He's a good sheriff. He's done more than any other one in my 54 yrs. I hope he wins by a landslide

That guy didn't deserve to die from neglect. He's the sheriff and responsible to know what is going on. As a charge nurse I am responsible to manage 63 bed inpatient unit. I am responsible for what techs and other nurses do. We put people in restraints and seclusion frequently but they have to be closely monitored. I am aware of mental health issues and substance abuse issues out there but can't just throw people in a cell and forget them.

The article definitely hit all the keywording against the sheriff

The biggest takeaway I see is that mental illness aspect being ignored. Whether drug induced or however he got there seems like a lack of training. I’ll also add dealing with the part of society no one else wants to deal with gotta be tough.


To me it’s more of an overall symptom of Obama shutting down asylums and releasing these problems out to society. Now it’s law enforcements problem and they’re not always equipped to handle these type issues.

The problem of the looney bins being shutdown stems from much before Obama.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mental_Health_Systems_Act_of_1980

I think what you’re mentioning came from the asylums of yesteryear and all the horrendous atrocities. Just look at the asylums of the 40-70s and the walker co jail situation is minor. Thousands of people treated in deplorable conditions. Some photographers actually documented the conditions and once released to the public things began to change.

Recent times were affected by Obama’s tenure. I’m sure geeb1 knows the issues well. My wife sure does and it is not an easy task

This was under Obama and one of the reasons the system is so stressed

There is a huge shortage of mental health beds in Alabama. Unfortunately, there is part of the population that needs to be in an institution for the rest of their lives. I see the same patients over and over again that go to one hospital to another. I've known many of these patients for years.

I'll give y'all my 2 cents on the article since I probably have a little more insight than most. When I got my Masters degree one of my professors, a very good one, was also a Federal Court Referee, which is the term they used. When federal courts received complaints on jails in Alabama he was the one they assigned to look into it and report to them. This was the early 2000s. I know one of the jails that he worked on A LOT was Walker County. This was well before Smith's time in office so the problems were major well before he got there and it sounds like he has acknowledged them and tried to make changes for the better. I also know that county jails are dependent on County gov'ts for funding and like most, Walker County doesn't want to provide the needed funding. Jails are always down the list of County Gov't priorities. Another thing, like some on here have mentioned, there is basically no state mental health help available for those in need of it. We can thank our state Republicans for this. As they began to take power over state gov't they have eroded funding for mental health. They closed Bryce Hospital and I think the one in south Alabama is closed too. Bottom line is Alabama has almost no state mental health system. If the state would fix this it would solve an untold amount of the crime problems. I don't like this article because it is placing blame on the Sheriff for issues that he doesn't have the resources given to him to fix.

This is not liberal mumbo jumbo. These are facts coming from a person who is generally conservative but has garnered these viewpoints from education and even more importantly, I have lived it through my career.

Watch, the alabama solution.

" I don't like this article because it is placing blame on the Sheriff for issues that he doesn't have the resources given to him to fix."

He can't stop his deputies from stomping on a prisoner that is cuffed and on the ground? How about watching someone freeze to death and laughing about it? I assume this happened during his tenure? That blame will certainly fall on him. He is responsible for what happens at his jail.

Spot on from what I understand however I still throw Obama in the mix cause he wanted the red pill blue pill solution. I’d have to go back to federal funding and look but I’m not gonna. I lived thru his admin and like many, mental health generally goes on the back burner with funding. There’s new issues now and I’m not gonna say anything about that either.

If I recall correctly Bryce was supposed to be replaced and it never was. Other institutions were closed and those institutionalized were turned out in the street for local services were to take care of. Instead sheriffs offices and PD were overwhelmed basically. Those that are criminally mental ill need to be incarcerated, not being cared for with day services or locked up in a jail cell without proper care.

Back long ago in Jr High our teacher inn9th grade social studies took us to Bryce and Partlow. We also went to a women’s prison in Tennessee. We saw the pics of the institutionalized during the 40-70s when there really was no care. Experiments were done, especially electrical shock therapy. Many of those atrocities led to patient rights for the mentally ill.

Folks have preconceived ideas about how all this plays out and are far removed from the truth. My dad’s sister was paranoid schizophrenic and he had time with her. His hands were tied and fought the losing battle. I’m married to someone on the other side of that coin so I see both sides and it’s a heck of a cluster. She also deals with law enforcement in 5 counties. We rarely talk about her job since she really can’t

Naw, it’s easy to paint any pic you want with half truths and a few facts

Bob Riley blew up the Mental Health System in Alabama. He also allowed Certificate of Need in Alabama for Assisted Living Facilities that receive zero state or federal funding. It was a free market before Bob. Of course, the previous Governor (Demo) Dandy Don, started the CON crap. Bob had the chance to kill it but folded to lobbyists.

My wife is the new Alabama State Policy Director for the National Shattering Silence Coalition. The NSSC is fairly new...a grass roots group of affected families who have a child or loved one with a serious mental illness and especially psychosis and anosognosia. Goal is to offer advocacy for individuals, education +training +support for families along with judges, DAs, law enforcement, medical personnel, etc, along with working to reform state laws and policies.

There is a systemic problem here in Alabama. There are very very few services here, whether private pay or state services. Psychosis isn't treated as a medical emergency condition and proper care is often ignored. It's a serious issue. Our jails are being used as de facto mental health care facilities.

The Walker County issue...I'll reserve comment but it's safe to say there is a STATEWIDE deficit in training and education around serious mental illness that presents with psychosis and anosognosia. Some of the cases of mistreatment and/or refusal of services is almost unthinkable.

If anyone is interested in learning more, check out www.nsscoalition.org. Join to receive updates.

Yep. Bottom line, the buck should stop w' him. If he was completly ignorant of what was going on then he wasn't doing a very good job of minding his jail.