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Collin County Sheriff's Office implements policy changes after in-custody death
Months after a man died in custody and just days after eight jailers were cleared of charges, the Collin County sheriff posted a lengthy list of "reforms" that include limits on restraints and new training.
MCKINNEY, Texas - Months after a man died in custody and just days after eight jailers were cleared of charges, the Collin County sheriff posted a lengthy list of "reforms" that include limits on restraints and new training.
Days after a Collin County grand jury declined to indict eight jailers in connection to the in-custody death of Marvin Scott III, Sheriff Jim Skinner released a lengthy outline of improvements.
MORE: Grand jury doesn't indict 8 Collin County jailers for in-custody death of Marvin Scott III
Scott was arrested for marijuana possession on March 14. He was taken to a hospital for, what Allen police called, erratic behavior. When he was cleared three hours later, he was taken to jail.
Scott’s family says he was diagnosed schizophrenic but has not had an episode in more than a year.
The sheriff says Scott was put on a restraint bed, had a spit hood on and was pepper-sprayed. He became unresponsive and later died.
"There are certain things that you simply cannot do to people and assume the outcome is going to be positive," said Dr. Alex Del Carmen, Associate Dean for the School of Criminology at Tarleton State University. "Because you don't know the physiology of the individual, the mental state of that person, you don't know what medications they are or what medications they should be on."
In the statement released Monday, Sheriff Skinner said: "Our communities need appropriate treatment facilities and an effective diversion system, as an alternative to jail when appropriate. Here in Collin County, it will take multiple stakeholders to improve the care for the mentally ill, including enhancing the County's diversion system."
Sheriff Skinner said some changes are already in the works. There is a plan to build a new jail infirmary that will have up to 300 beds for mental healthcare inmates.
The sheriff says the plan was approved in 2018, and Collin County commissioners are looking for a way to fast-track the plan.
Duty-to-intervene training will begin in August. There will be new limits on restraint beds and spit hoods. Restraint chairs will be used, and a "safety officer" will be assigned to oversee their use.
"What they are likely looking at is what is the most conservative way that you can still restrain someone while at the same time not impeding that person from having a normal airflow," Del Carmen said.
Moving forward, the sheriff is also requesting assistance from the U.S. Department of Justice in areas of policy, procedure and training.
"Although they are not gonna be MDs through a police academy, nor is anyone expecting them to be, the idea is to be able to recognize some of the early stages of a certain type of behavior that would be associated with mental illness so that the officer approaches the suspect from a very different perspective," Del Carmen said.
The sheriff also shared the opinion that people arrested for low-level offenses be diverted from jail when it’s safe to do so.
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