Former Montana Jail Guard Exposes Culture of Prisoner Abuse

by Joe Watson

The departure of a career Missoula County, Montana jail guard has exposed multiple allegations of excessive force against prisoners under the direction of one out-of-control supervisor and the residual culture of prisoner abuse that permeates the jail.

As he terminated his 15-year career in September 2013, ex-guard Tim Boileau filed grievances alleging that, between 2008 and 2011, there were a half-dozen instances of prisoner abuse involving Sgt. Jeff Roderick, a jail supervisor whose behavior was purportedly enabled and subsequently whitewashed by Missoula County Sheriff Carl Ibsen.

Though he found gratification working with prisoners and attempting to initiate change, Boileau said the work conditions were unbearable.

"If you acquiesce to the system of no personal responsibility, you can maintain your job," Boileau said. "There's an issue of reporting and reprisal."

As head of the Detention Officers' Association of Missoula County Union from 2009 to 2012, Boileau presided over a union complaint against Roderick protesting his promotion to supervisor despite Roderick's history of violence and prisoner abuse.

Though the complaint cited evidence of the union's claims against Roderick—including jail video surveillance—Ibsen responded that he was "forced to conclude there is nothing substantial or provable to investigate" because not a single union member came forward to directly make "timely and first-person complaints."

Rich Buley, Boileau's attorney, explained that a "faction within the union wanted to use the collective bargaining agreement to force changes at the jail."

"Obviously, the administration of the jail, starting with Sheriff Ibsen," Buley said, "they didn't like people making waves, and that's what the union was doing."

Boileau said Roderick isn't the only guard guilty of prisoner abuse. He and Buley cited a December 2012 incident involving a mentally-ill female prisoner as further evidence of the jail's unsafe conditions.

According to Boileau, three different shifts of jail guards left the prisoner with her hands cuffed behind her back for 19 consecutive hours before Boileau arrived for his shift and was told to transport her to the hospital. In a report he later wrote about the incident, Boileau said the woman had likely gone without food or drink for nearly a day, and that she reportedly told hospital personnel she had urinated and defecated in her pants.

"This is a problem that has been and will remain for years, and unless it's brought to light, it will remain," Buley said of the jail's mistreatment of both mentally-ill and general-population prisoners.

After Boileau's grievances were made public—including allegations he was assaulted by another jail supervisor and a probation officer—the sheriff's department reportedly began another review of all allegations of prisoner abuse and workplace violence.

Ibsen, however, said he "vehemently disagrees" that the jail is unsafe.

Source: www.missoulian.com