Deputy given notice for 'failing to cooperate' in jail probe
07-03-2005
Allegations of abuse of gay inmates at the County Jail in San Bruno have prompted San Francisco Sheriff Michael Hennessey to call for an FBI investigation into the matter.
Hennessey has also ordered the firing of a deputy who allegedly refused to cooperate with a departmental probe into the allegations.
As we reported in May, the Sheriff's Department has been investigating a bizarre case in which a pair of gay inmates said that they had been "inappropriately touched" by deputies, and that a cell-phone camera was used to transmit tasteless pictures of at least one of the prisoners to other deputies.
One prisoner said a deputy had drawn breasts on his T-shirt.
Although one jailhouse insider first called it "stupid horseplay," the Sheriff's Department immediately ordered the prisoner transferred to another facility and launched a full-blown investigation -- calling all 18 members of the San Bruno jail's night crew in for questioning.
Hennessey has disclosed that he served one deputy with termination papers for "failing to cooperate with our investigation.'' No hearing date has been set, and the deputy -- whom Hennessey declined to identify, citing special law enforcement privacy rights -- remains on duty at the San Bruno jail pending the outcome of the case.
In addition, Hennessey said he has asked the U.S. attorney in San Francisco to conduct an FBI investigation to determine if the inmates' civil rights were violated.
"We had several incidents over a month involving at least one specific deputy, and there may be several,'' Hennessey said. "I'm taking it very seriously because we can't have inmates harassed, and certainly not because they're gay.''
The FBI did not return a call seeking comment.
Sacramento lawyer David P. Mastagni, whose office represents the deputies in the case, declined to comment. "I don't believe in turning confidential proceedings into circuses or fostering a lynch-mob mentality,'' he said.