1Kamau

Subject: Inmate Raped by Jail Staff

June 16, 2013

PoliceAbuse.com staff writer

The future for Dale Clacks, a mentally disabled black man confined in a Floridajail, appears bleak, if not grim.

Yet his mother, Debra Clacks, and his step-sister, Shemei Jackson, say they aregrateful because he is still alive. In interviews with them this week, bothwomen expressed their gratitude for Policeabuse.com and its rapid intervention onDale Clacks' behalf.

After hearing about Clacks' plight in the Holmes County Jail, Policeabuse.comcontacted Timothy Brown, the Sheriff who presides over the detention facility, which islocated in Bonifay, Florida. Brown, in turn, requested an investigation by the InternalAffairs office.

As a result, Internal Affairs shined a light on the brutal attack he suffered at thehands of vicious inmates, when three corrections officers opened Clacks' cell so theycould attack him. As the officers, including Captain Joel Patrick, watched, the inmatesbeat Clacks into unconsciousness. Not content with the beating and its consequencesfor Clacks--severe pain, broken ribs, temporary blindness and a long, ugly scar on hischeek--the inmates continued to assault him.

That attack, however, was not the only abuse heaped on Clacks by the officers, onlythe most vicious. When Clacks arrived at the Jail on January 8, they led him to a cell,then forced him to clean the toilet and its surrounding area with a toothbrush. For goodmeasure, the officers ordered him to drink the urine in the toilet and brush his teethwith it, as well.

Clacks' ordeal began when a six-year-old boy, according to police, claimed that atall man, with dark hair, molested him. Clacks, 41, is tall, but has sandy hair. Heweighs less than 140 pounds, his mother said. Since the accusation was formalizedby police, Clacks has stoutly denied it. Meanwhile, he continues to plead for DNA andpolygraph tests to prove his innocence, his mother said, but to no avail.

While the prosecutor and law enforcement officers assumed Clacks' guilt, his motherand sister maintained their faith in his innocence and searched for assistance.

2"I don't know what I would have done without Policeabuse.com, because there wasnowhere else to go for help," Ms. Clacks told a Policeabuse.com staff writer. "WithoutPoliceabuse.com, I don't know if Dale would still be alive, they tried to kill him. Eventhough they had knocked him out, they wouldn't stop beating him." Equally odious, Ms.Clacks said, "my son is sure that someone put something in his rectum while he wasunconscious, but that has not been included in the official report."

To find assistance, Debra Clacks said, "Shemei used her computer. She went online and typed in policeabuse, when she did, some websites came up, but we chosePoliceabuse.com because it offers help for victims of police brutality."

Although Clacks lacked the $10 membership fee Policeabuse.com usesto defray the high cost of assistance for victims, "help was given to us without ademand for the membership fee," she said, with gratitude.

After hearing Clacks' account of the tortuous treatment her son had endured,Policeabuse.com swung into action on his behalf. Its founder, Diop Kamau, "arrangeda three-way conversation and so my daughter and I were able to listen as he spoke toSheriff Timothy Brown and informed him of that Policeabuse.com was aware of theassaults on my son."

The sheriff, apparently grasping the severity of the charges and the possibleconsequences, quickly asked Internal Affairs to investigate them. Later, according toMs. Clacks, "Dale learned that inmates spread the word throughout the jail that SheriffBrown was acting nervous because Policeabuse.com found out was happening andtook action."

Since then, Captain Patrick has been arrested and terminated. The other twoofficers were suspended. One of them, Officer Mann, however, was recently permittedto return to his post, but without further punishment. Ms. Clacks said she isdistressed that the offending officers have been brought back to the jail. Ms. Clackssaid she does not understand why Patrick was charged only with "first degree mis-deameanor assault, rather than a felony. That was much too light a charge after whatthey deliberately did to my son," she insisted.

And she is angry over what she contends are Sheriff Brown's "lies; he said that Dalewas taken to a doctor and checked. That was a lie, a doctor only poked his finger andtook a blood test. His eardrums may be broken, he's been having headaches

Officer Mann, she alleged, "when walking past Dale's cell, continues to call him anigger. Mann doesn't call him that when black officers are present, only when they arenot," she said.

3Sheriff Brown, on June 12, not only agreed to be interviewed by a Policeabuse.comstaff writer, he also scheduled that session for 9 a.m. on the next day, June 13, todovetail with his schedule that day.

When reached at that time in his office on June 13, Brown declined to speak, on oroff the record. "The Sheriffs Association said that I can't be interviewed because thiscase is pending and has been turned over to the Florida department of LawEnforcement," he said.

The Sheriff, in refusing to be interviewed, avoided the following questionsprepared by Policeabuse.com for his responses:

(1) Given that you are the jail's commanding officer, were you aware of what mustlogically be described as "rogue" officers on your staff?

(2) If you were aware of the presence of such officers and their violations of policiesand procedures in maintaining order, please specify your responses to

them.

(3) What are the work related histories of all the offending officers?

(4) Why was Officer Mann allowed to return without punishment, as alleged, or haveyou disciplined him or placed him on probation?

(5) The inmate who testified against the three offending officers has allegedly beenmoved to another, facility unknown to Ms. Clacks or

Policeabuse.com. What is the name of that facility and where is it located?

(6) Has that inmate been threatened by anyone? If so, who?

(7) Dale Clacks, according to his mother, Debra Clacks, has been threatened withdeath by Officer Mann if he is tried, convicted and sentenced.

What are your plans to protect his life if he is convicted? Please enumerate themfor us now.

(8) Ms. Clacks maintains that her son was sexually penetrated while he wasunconscious. What plans have been set to investigate this charge in a timely

manner and report a set of findings?

(9) Given all of the above, what is your plan to bring critically urgent reforms to thejail, measures for oversight and regularly scheduled monitoring to

guarantee compliance by officers?

4The leading private police misconduct investigative/consulting firm113 South Monroe St., Tallahassee, FL 32301Telephone 800-473-5097

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