The death of Freddie Gray in Baltimore last year was criminally laid at the feet of six Baltimore police officers (three of whom have already gone to trial). The most prominent charge against the majority of the officers had to do with the van ride taking Gray to the police station. The officers were charged with giving Gray a “rough ride,” wherein he was put into the back of a police van unsecured and then violent driven through the streets. Gray was not the only one to have experienced such treatment from Baltimore police. Now, the results of a joint investigation by the New York Times and the Marshall Project shows the practice is not just limited to Baltimore.
We’ve all heard about the privatization of prisons, where a for-profit business operates a correctional institution that was formerly operated by municipal or state government. But it doesn’t stop at the prisons; everything is privatized. The meals and the medical care, even the prisoner transport.
The investigation revealed what the reporters called "a pattern of prisoner abuse and neglect in an industry that operates with almost no oversight." According to the investigation, prisoners were locked in vans for days with little access to food and water, companies hired guards without providing adequate training, and guards had little incentive to properly care for prisoners. Such companies transport tens of thousands of prisoners each year, according to the investigation.
Some of the highlights of the report:
- Guards received training that ill-prepared them for the complex problems they would face on the job
- Prisoners and guards described harrowing conditions inside the vans
- More prisoners may have escaped than were actually transported
Read the entire report of the investigation for yourself over at The Marshall Project.