Another Inmate Death at the Bexar County Jail



photo of Stephen Wayne Cole
Stephen Wayne Cole

Inmate Found Unresponsive

Stephen Wayne Cole was arrested at a Walmart, by an SAPD officer, on December 22. The call was originally listed as shoplifting but Mr. Cole was only charged with criminal trespass which makes it seem as if a charge of shoplifting could not be supported. Mr. Cole was given a bond amount of $400 and booked into the Bexar County Jail. But apparently Mr. Cole was homeless and could not even pay the 10% that the bonds companies charge, which was $40. And so Mr. Cole sat in the jail for this stupid little, non-violent charge.

It All Comes Down to Money

Bexar County, like so many other places, has done a poor job of addressing our homeless population and an even worse job of addressing those with mental illness. Funding for mentally ill individuals has been cut drastically over the years. No one wants to have to pay for the poor and ill members of our community so these people end up in the Bexar County Jail which was never its intended function.

Jail is a Death Trap

Quite often the individuals who end up in the jail because they are homeless or mentally ill, have other serious health conditions. If these people are going to be forced to be in the jail then they need to be in areas where they can be watched closely. At last count, the Bexar County Jail was down almost 200 detention officers.  That’s crazy. Sheriff Salazar hasn’t come close to even matching the recruiting efforts put out by other sheriffs much less gone beyond them. His administration is so dysfunctional that they only put on two detention officer training classes this year when the norm is 6 – 8 classes per year.

How can a jail, so dangerously understaffed, possibly keep a good watch on vulnerable individuals? It’s not the officers’ fault. They are in a constant state of being forced to work additional shifts. While the officers can barely keep their eyes open because they are so exhausted, the Sheriff posts pictures of himself and his family lounging in his in-ground swimming pool. Every week the officers are beating themselves up trying to meet the bare minimum required by Jail Standards while the Sheriff bumbles around, clueless on how to do his job.

Playing to the Media

Sheriff Javier Salazar may have been too intimidated by Dillon Collier to answer some un-vetted questions but he sure  jumped out in front of the cameras on this one. It gave him the opportunity to play the caring, concerned sheriff. The reality is, he used Mr. Cole’s death for political reasons. We’ve heard his calls for change before yet he’s actually been detrimental in getting people hired and that in turn affects the officers’ ability to monitor inmates such as Mr. Cole.

And in a complete lack of self-awareness, Sheriff Salazar says he wants to be part of the solution that addresses this problem. Sorry Salazar. We want the solution to succeed, not fail. You have only shown us that you know how to fail. Leave this to people who know what they are doing.

No information has been released on the cause of death at this time. You can read the KSAT 12 article here.

 

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