D.C. Jail Inmates Dispute Official Account of Fight
Initial Report Did Not Reveal Extent of Damage, Which Left Unit Unusable and Fixtures Broken

By Elissa Silverman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, July 20, 2008

A disturbance at the D.C. jail last month was more violent than officials initially indicated, and the unit where inmates rebelled was so damaged that it remained closed for almost a month.

In the hours after the unrest, officials said jail operations had returned to normal. But in an interview last week, D.C. Department of Corrections Director Devon Brown acknowledged that the SW-2 unit where the incident occurred was unusable and that the 154 inmates housed in it were moved to other areas of the jail. On Thursday, Brown said, 92 inmates returned to the unit.

"The press release said the essence of what occurred. It was not intended to give a minute, detailed explanation of what took place," said Brown, who declined to estimate the cost of repairs. "I wasn't going to give you a blow-by-blow account of what happened."

Advocates for inmates and neighbors who live close to the jail, located on the banks of the Anacostia River near RFK Stadium, have complained for years that jail officials do not keep them apprised of all that happens at the facility. Officials contend that security risks prevent them from disclosing too much information.

It is still unclear how severely the unit was damaged in the June 22 disturbance.

In an interview Tuesday, Brown said the damage was mostly limited to broken light fixtures, which have proved difficult to replace, and one malfunctioning cell door. But D.C. City Administrator Dan Tangherlini said he was told that three to five cell-door locks, lights and other fixtures were broken. Inmates in the unit said the area looked like a war scene.

Brown said internal investigators are interviewing inmates and officers to come up with a full account of that night's events. Lacking such a report, disclosures of what transpired have come largely by questioning officials about the statements of three inmates in the unit who spoke separately to The Washington Post.

The events immediately preceding the disturbance are not in dispute. A fight broke out early that Sunday evening, delaying dinner for several hours in the SW-2 unit, which houses maximum- and medium-security inmates.

"Food is a big issue," said John Rosser, vice chairman of the union representing D.C. corrections officers. "A little tiff, like holding up food, has the potential to set things off at any moment."

Two dozen to three dozen inmates who were in a common area were upset about the cold food and became unruly. Routine efforts to pacify them failed, jail officials and inmates said.

"Inmates were fighting other inmates for different reasons, inmates were robbing other inmates, and they broke into the counselors' office" in the unit, one inmate wrote in a letter, describing the incident as a "big riot."

All three inmates interviewed said they feared for their safety that night because corrections officers had lost control. The inmates spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation.

The three inmates had been in jail for offenses including failure to appear in court on a domestic violence case and a conviction for kidnapping and sexual assault. The jail holds those serving short sentences or awaiting trial or transfer.

According to two of the inmates, those involved in the fighting pushed file cabinets, desks and other furniture against the main door of the office to keep the officers at bay. Some inmates had weapons, and others fashioned them out of metal and other materials, the two inmates said. They also used a phone to call local media outlets, including The Post.

The standoff continued for several hours, as corrections officials tried to negotiate with the inmates. The jail's emergency response team was called, and, at some point, corrections officers left the unit.

The confrontation ended about 3 a.m., when members of the emergency response team, clad in riot gear, threw canisters of a chemical agent into the unit to restore order. By that time, dozens of D.C. police officers and firefighters had responded to the jail, but they remained outside the building throughout the incident.

The third inmate interviewed, who said he takes sleeping pills before going to bed, said he was shaken awake by a cellmate moments before a canister exploded near their cell.

He and his cellmate crawled under the bunk bed and wrapped their heads in sheets so they wouldn't inhale as many fumes. The chemical aggravated his asthma, he said, and he struggled to breathe.

The unit was wrecked, the inmates said. Overhead lights had been shattered, and two of the inmates said they saw several small fires, which they believe were set off by the exploding canisters.

Brown said Tuesday that he saw no fires in the unit and that the chemical was pepper spray. He described "chaos" among inmates when he arrived at the facility -- he wasn't sure of the time -- and said he couldn't clearly identify a leader of the rebellion.

"You know at that point you have to take control," he said.

When asked why jail officials did not promptly disclose the shutdown of SW-2 after the disturbance, Brown said: "I don't know of an incident of this nature in which there is no damage to the unit."

Brown also said that he saw no weapons in the unit and that no one was injured. Two inmates said they saw an officer with a cut on an arm.

In another point of dispute, the three inmates said the corrections officers retreated from the unit during the disturbance. But Brown said the officers stayed until the emergency response team arrived and it was clear that pepper spray would be dispersed.

The inmates said the chemical dispersed in the unit seemed much stronger than pepper spray, which they say is often used in the jail.

After corrections officials regained control of SW-2, the inmates housed there were left outside in a recreational area until the next evening, all three inmates said. The unit was not habitable. At one point, the inmates said, they were allowed back in to collect such personal items as toiletries and shoes, but much of their property was gone. They were examined by medical personnel, although the inmate with asthma said his request to see a specialist was denied.

In an interview, Brown emphasized his accomplishments as head of the jail. For the first time in 32 years, he said, the facility has been accredited by the American Correctional Association and the National Commission on Correctional Health Care. Corrections officers also are receiving training certified by the American Correctional Association. Although overcrowding long has been an issue, Brown said the jail is about 250 inmates under capacity.

Rosser, the union official, said that morale is low among corrections officers, who feel they have received little support from Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D) and his administration.

Tangherlini said the investigation into the disturbance ultimately will provide more transparency, a goal of the Fenty administration.

"The bigger questions we have to address is how did we get into this situation, could we have seen it coming and could we have stopped it sooner," Tangherlini said. "Those are questions we will look to the investigation to give us clues to see what we can do better."