Frankie Dakin said it perfectly in a recent Facebook post: Shelby County Jail is now a human rights issue.
Indeed.
Because that it is now the case , Sheriff Floyd Bonner has tainted his more than four decade law enforcement career to the point that mismanagement is now his brand and the deaths of 67 inmates since 2019 his legacy.
His failure to develop the dramatic plan of improvement needed for the jail and his inadequacy do something to inspire the community that he is the right person for the job are now hallmarks of his administration. Under his watch, Shelby County Jail has faced mounting scrutiny for chronic mismanagement, inmate deaths, overcrowding, and failures in oversight that have drawn criticism from judges, jail inspectors and experts, watchdogs, and civil rights advocates alike.
And if that isn’t bad enough, he’s now signed an agreement of cooperation with ICE to extend the federal agency’s access to inmates in the jail, and it comes at the same time ICE is creating distress and fear as the agency racially profiles Hispanics in Memphis neighborhoods.
All in all, it not only raises questions about his ability as a professional – but as a Memphian.
It’s The Culture, Stupid
In the Shelby County Jail, there are broken elevators, mechanical failures, leaky ceilings, and outdated security systems. The deplorable conditions give the sheriff a dependable excuse for inmate deaths, but in truth, the deaths come more from culture problems than physical issues.
Fabled management consultant Peter Drucker said: “culture eats strategy for breakfast” and that is certainly the case at the jail, where culture change is undercut because collective attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors are out of reach. There is little to encourage us that culture change can happen under the current sheriff’s management.
Sheriff Bonner often delivers justifications as if culture change is beyond the realm of possibility; however that belies a historical fact: it’s been done before. Mark Luttrell did it.
When Mr. Luttrell was elected sheriff in 2002 and took charge of the jail, he inherited a class action lawsuit in federal court, the appointment of a special master to oversee jail operations, and the threat of federal government intervention.
Three years later, the federal judge removed a contempt ruling and praised Mr. Luttrell’s 14-point plan to turn things around in the jail’s operations and culture.
This progress now seems long ago, and it’s not possible these days to find residual benefits from the Luttrell era.
The Deadly Jail
Yes, Shelby County of course needs a more smartly designed jail, but it means nothing if there isn’t a smart plan to change the current malignant management culture whose failure is best indicated in the deaths of 67 inmates since 2019. There have been 10 deaths this year and three in the last 12 days. That’s roughly the same number of deaths this year as Rikers Island – although the New York jail has more than two times more inmates.
As a result, the Shelby County Jail may be the deadliest jail in the U.S., which means that being held in the jail for too many men is tantamount to a death penalty.
It is this context that makes an interview with Mark Luttrell on the Permanent Record, Just City’s podcast with Josh Spickler, required listening. The former Shelby County Sheriff and Shelby County Mayor leaned on his extensive experience as head of federal prisons with candid, informed opinions about current Shelby County Jail operations.
Mr. Luttrell said the number of deaths in the jail is “way above the national average” and calls for a strong mental health staff in place with clear medical and mental health protocols. In addition, reports by inspectors and jail experts point to “lots of operational inefficiencies.”
Déjà vu
Mr. Luttrell said in many ways, the current crisis in the jail, based on reports by inspectors and experts, reflects conditions when he was elected sheriff in 2002. He said it took him six years to change the jail culture.
“The tragedy of all of this is so much time was spent to change the culture” but it has fallen by the wayside, particularly the impact of direct supervision by officers in the jail pods. “A new jail is part of the answer but it’s about one-third of the answer,” he said. “If you want a new jail, great. Go for a new jail but don’t make a new jail the focus of your remedy.”
Shelby County Jail was “inefficient” when it was built, Mr. Luttrell said. “It was labor intensive.” From the beginning, the technology was undependable. Within months, the much-vaunted pneumatic tubes that were supposed to save time and increase efficiency.”
Overall, the massive fortress-like architecture is another example is the insensitivity given to design of public buildings in Memphis. It was the result of hiring architects that had never designed a jail before, but they had the pivotal experience for their selection – political contributions.
What is needed now is a 21st century jail rather than the 20th century warehouse we have.
Big Decisions
Building a new jail will take five to ten years, Mr. Luttrell said, as the community decides on a location and how to fund a project that the sheriff’s office said could cost $1.4 billion as a “worst case” cost.
A proposed location in Frayser has already gone down in flames as a result of opposition in the New Chicago area. Alternates locations will be tricky to find and the two that have surfaced so far are equally bad – in the area of Shelby Farms Park or through the expansion of the existing jail in downtown Memphis.
One brings sirens, traffic snarls, and dramatically increases traffic, and the other is the jail equivalent of putting lipstick on a pig.
Then, too there is the financing of $1.4 billion for a new jail. If paid by county government, it could require $100 million in bond payments from county budgets for 30 years.
Getting First Things First
While the crucial location and funding decisions are reached, Mayor Luttrell offered a checklist of priorities for the sheriff’s department to make the jail constitutionally compliant. Most of all, it is about putting the emphasis where it should be:
- An emphasis on leadership
- An emphasis on maintenance moved back inside jail operations
- An emphasis on policies
- An emphasis on rules of engagement
- An emphasis on communications
- An emphasis on training
- An emphasis on taking care of staff
It’s a useful list for either a sheriff trying to improve the jail culture or a jail coordinating committee charged with getting a new jail designed.
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