On Monday, the United States Department of Justice released its final report on its more than three year investigation into the use of investigative holds by the Ville Platte Police Department and the Evangeline Parish Sheriff’s Office.
The report from the DOJ details what the department discovered throughout the course of its investigation as well as the VPPD and EPSO’s plan to remedy the problem.
According to the report, the investigative holds used by the VPPD and EPSO where they “arrested and held people in jail - without obtaining a warrant and without probable cause to believe that the detained individual committed a crime,” violated the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution.
The report went on to state that this practice was used “as a regular part of their criminal investigations, inducing people to provide information to officers under threat of continued wrongful incarceration.” The arrests, the report stated, “include individuals suspected (without sufficient evidence) of committing crimes, as well as their family members and potential witnesses.”
During these investigative holds, the DOJ determined that “the individuals who are improperly arrested are strip-searched, placed in holding cells without beds, toilets, or showers, and denied communication with family members and loved ones.”
Individuals, according to the DOJ, “are commonly detained for 72 hours or more without being provided and opportunity to contest their arrest and detention.” The DOJ further stated, “Instead, they are held and questioned until they either provide information or the law enforcement agency determines that they do not have information related to a crime.”
The DOJ’s reached its conclusion in this matter after it first “developed a comprehensive understanding of EPSO and VPPD’s investigative hold practice by obtaining and reviewing all relevant policies and documents, visiting Ville Platte and Evangeline Parish, touring EPSO and VPPD’s facilities, and meeting with diverse groups of officers, City and Parish leadership, and local stakeholders.” DOJ officials also met with individuals from each department as well as current and former agents at the Federal Bureau of Investigation who have investigated federal crimes in Ville Platte and Evangeline Parish.
Throughout this process, the DOJ said that they also “spoke to a broad cross-section of community members, including some who were subjected to an investigative hold by either EPSO or VPPD.”
In the findings of the report, it stated that “this pattern or practice is widespread and longstanding throughout both agencies.” It also stated that between January 2012 and December 2014, EPSO “listed ‘investigative holds’ as the sole basis for over 200 arrests,” while “during that same period, VPPD arrested individuals on investigative holds more than 700 times,” with “at least 30 of the VPPD’s investigative arrests were of juveniles.”
According to the DOJ, most holds operate as follows: “when a detective at either agency wants to question someone in connection with an ongoing criminal investigation, the detective instructs a patrol officer to find that individual in the community and bring him or her in for questioning. The patrol officer commands the individual to ride in a patrol vehicle to either the City or Parish jail, where pursuant to the jail’s standard procedures, jail personnel strip-search the individual and place him or her in a holding cell (sometimes referred to as ‘the bullpen’ at the Parish jail) until a detective is available to conduct questioning. At the City Jail, there are two holding cells; both are equipped with a hard metal bench, and nothing else. Neither holding cell at the City Jail has a mattress, running water, shower, or toilet in the cell. The Parish Jail is similar; the ‘bullpen’ is equipped with only a long metal bench, and the walls are made of metal grating. EPSO detectives and deputies refer to the process of detaining a person in the ‘bullpen’ for questioning as ‘putting them on ice.’”
Officers at both agencies “admitted that they use the time that a person is ‘on hold’ to develop their case, either by gathering evidence or by convincing the detainee to confess.”
In the report, it shares that the path forward for both agencies will consist of changes to how the departments operate.
These reforms will consist of: implementing policies that prohibit the use of investigative holds and a description of proper detention and interrogation techniques; training for officers, detectives, supervisors and command staff; data collection, analysis and risk management; and community outreach to rebuild community trust.
Both the VPPD and EPSO submitted agreements to the DOJ in which they explained how they plan to implement these reforms. To read the full agreements visit www.justice.gov.
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ELIZABETH WEST