NJ Jail has used same abuse tactics as Abu Ghraib

Immigrants who have been jailed at Passaic County, NJ's jail have described how the they were constantly intimidated by dogs barking and lunging at them to keep them in line. At least two have been bitten multiple times and have received serious injuries as a result the jail's
incident reports state.

The inmates talked to people from Homeland Security but they did nothing about it. Experts on treatment of prisoners say that dogs have their use to look for drugs but they should be trained not to be intimidating. Is this how we want our jails to be run? Keep this in mind the next time the Passaic County Sheriff is up for election if you are a resident of Passaic County. His name is Jerry Speziale and he is a Democrat. He was a much heralded undercover narcotics officer in the NYC police and DEA. He was partners with former NYC Police Commisioner Bernie Kerik. Kerik was Police Commisioner on 9/11/01. Speziale wrote a book about his experiences. He loves the limelight because he didn't get it when he was undercover.

Before Speziale became Sheriff we had a Republican Sheriff for multiple decades who ruled with an iron fist and made his officers intimidate voters on election day if they wanted to keep their job. He also made his officers become Republicans.  He was eventually brought down on political corruption charges. The people he initmidated finally turned on him.

Are we now at all surprised at what happened in Abu Ghraib? Is this the society that we want? Is this the moral thing to do? What has our society degraded to?

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4170152

This hits me especially hard because I am from Passaic County although I no longer live there. The Sheriff's father co-owns a barber shop in my hometown where I still get my hair cut.

The full report can be heard at this web-link also just click on the word listen.

This is not a report that was slapped together quickly. It took the reporter many months to research it. That is described here:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4173070

The prisoners were moved to the Hudson County, NJ jail and they experience other horrendous things there. That will be covered today on NPR and will be on the NPR.org website later today.

•  I heard this last night ...

  This made me sooo angry ...The hired pr flak (or whoever he was) said there had been no complaints or injuries.  When confronted with the jail's own paperword regarding injuries he said something to the effect of 'Oh, those.  Yes I knew about those.'  Then he went on to say that they didn't believe those things had happened, even though the incidents in question were well documented.

  They just LIE and LIE and LIE, and even when they get caught flat out they go right on lying with out even blinking.  There is no shame and there should be.  Lots.

  by Catriana on Thu Nov 18, 2004 at 05:35:49 AM PDT

  •  It is digusting

    I guess Abu Ghraib was not an aberration.

    by shark on Thu Nov 18, 2004 at 09:43:06 AM PDT