VIDEO: St. Louis Corrections Officers Mace Confined Detainees

Newly released security video taken at the St. Louis city jail shows multiple instances of what  critics say is the wanton use of mace on numerous detainees in the facility.

In one instance shown on video, a detainee is seated at a bench in a common area, his head in his hand, when six corrections officers enter, two of whom immediately deploy mace.

In another instance from the video, a corrections officer approaches a cell door and motions for it to be unlocked. The officer opens the door, sprays mace inside for about four seconds, shuts the door and then walks off.

Yet another video captures one corrections officer boasting to another: "I'm just going to spray him right in his fucking face. He ain't even gonna see it coming."

The videos were included as part of court filing yesterday in an ongoing class action lawsuit being brought by past and current detainees of the City Justice Center who allege they were excessively maced as well as deprived of access to water. The videos have been made publicly available by the Arch City Defenders and Rights Behind Bars, both of whom are among the legal entities representing the current and former detainees. Specific allegations in the suit include that corrections staff spray detainees in confined areas, "leaving them to ‘marinate’ in the burning air."

The suit names the City of St. Louis and several specific corrections officers as defendants.

According to the Arch City Defenders, it is not uncommon for chemical agents to be used on detainees in the city jail who are "trapped in their cells, visiting rooms or otherwise restrained who present no physical threat." The videos made publicly available, they say, represent only a handful of at least 250 instances of officers in the jail deploying chemical agents on detainees who are "passively resistant." They say there are also dozens of documented instances of officers using "riot-sized" cans of chemical agents intended for use on crowds.

In addition to the released material, Arch City Defenders allege that the city has deleted 80 percent of the video requested as part of the lawsuit. "While the evidence presented is expansive, the full extent of abuse at the jail is still unclear," the organization said in a press release.

“This trove of documents and videos further prove what has already become evident over the years: CJC correctional officers are weaponizing chemical agents and other torture tactics in retaliation, for punitive reasons, or just because they can as an exercise of power,” said attorney Shubra Ohri in a statement. Ohri is an attorney with the MacArthur Justice Center and is one of the lawyers representing the detainees.

Ohri goes on to accuse the City of St. Louis of sanctioning the conduct by attempting to hide and cover it up.

The issue of oversight at the city jail has been contention as of late. In May, former FBI agent Matthew Brummund resigned as the head of the Division of Civilian Oversight, an umbrella agency created in August by Mayor Tishaura Jones that houses both the Detention Facility Oversight Board and the police Civilian Oversight Board.  Brummund said that his reason for leaving was because the City Counselor's Office was blocking the very oversight work the entity was tasked with completing. 

In June, the remaining members of the Detention Facility Oversight Board wrote a letter to Jones calling for the resignation of the head of city corrections Jennifer Clemons-Abdullah.

This is a developing story and we will update the post as we learn more.
We welcome tips and feedback. Email the author at ryan.krull@riverfronttimes.com
or follow on Twitter at @RyanWKrull.

Subscribe to Riverfront Times newsletters.

Follow us: Apple News |  Google News | NewsBreak | Reddit | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | Or sign up for our RSS Feed