The coffers of Colorado’s Jefferson County got a little lighter this week after county officials agreed to pay a former county jail inmate a settlement of $500,000 in recompense for mistreatment he suffered at the hands of correctional officers while serving a sentence in 2022.
Ex-convict Frederick Fisk is reported to have gotten involved in a confrontation with prison guards at the facility when he was suffering from an acute mental health problem. The episode occurred while Fisk was being transferred between units as a result of the mental health issue. He was being escorted by the guards through a hallway, when he found himself unable to continue walking. When Fisk stopped, the two deputies who were escorting him allegedly yanked his legs from beneath him and slammed him into the floor.
Karyn Tilley, a public information officer for the jail, said that the takedown and the way that Mr. Fisk’s face hit the floor was an unjustified use of force. She said that the current administration does not approve of such conduct on the part of their employees. The actions undertaken by the deputies, she said, appeared to result from poor judgment and inexperience, rather than from malice.
Despite this conviction, the county has agreed to settle Fisk’s complaint with a half-million dollar cash payout—in return, Fisk has agreed not to file a lawsuit. Even so, David Lane—Fisk’s attorney—said that the matter is not yet fully settled.
That no local law enforcement officials are willing to subject their brothers in blue to the demands and standards and penalties of the law is, he says, a cause of great concern. Because of this, Lane has stated that he will be contacting the United States Justice Department with the hope of opening a Federal prosecution against the offenders, on civil rights grounds.
Lane noted the curious tendency for police to do well in investigations conducted by other police, and maintained that he wants to see the offending deputies face felony assault charges.
