The death of the man

Gaffney, SC (Fox Carolina) -A woman is suing a sheriff office in the state of Sheriff and claims that her son was left alone in the wrap for almost seven hours, a full body retention used by the law enforcement authorities. Fox Carolina examines uncovered gaps in critical guidelines for the use of physical restraint devices in the areas of upstate agencies.

The arrest

The 47 -year -old Johnny Bollinger was arrested on December 16, 2022, after the Cherokee County's office reacted to a report on indecent exposure to the Wilderness Trail in Blacksburg. What happened in the last 8 hours of his life is controversial.

According to a lawsuit submitted by Bollinger's mother

According to the lawsuit, Bollinger was put in the packaging from the direct view of the prison staff and suffered “extreme fear, excitement and stress, which led to a cardiac arrest”.

It was no longer applied at 11:28 a.m., and the lawsuit was found that he was checked by the medical staff at 11.40 a.m.

Cherokee County's forensic doctor confirmed that Bollinger died in the Cherokee Medical Center at 12.49 p.m. His death became an accident due to a methamphetamine toxicity that make hypertensive cardiovascular diseases difficult.

A lawyer from Bollinger's family published the following explanation:

Bollinger's mother sued Cherokee County, the Sheriff's Office of the Cherokee County and the Southern Health Partners, which offers occupants in prison medical care for the wrong death. In the lawsuit it says that the officials “did not carry out any consistent security tests” and “could not consider and access his illness” while Bollinger was in the wrap.

Fox Carolina asked for a copy of Bollinger's arrest order, but the office of the Cherokee County's sheriff said that an arrest warrant was not received before his death.

“We did not publish the charging document because it was a blue ticket or a summon to appear for the indictment, unfortunately no arrest warrant was levied and the suspect was delivered,” said Sheriff Steve Mueller.

Mueller said that the Cherokee County's sheriff was not commented on for pending legal disputes. However, an answer to the lawsuit submitted in the official court records confirmed that Bollinger was placed in the Wrap when he arrived in the internment camp, refuses the other allegations.

Cherokee County and Southern Health Partners did not answer our request for a comment.

Safe restrictions

Fox Carolina studies spoke to Charles Hammond, the president and CEO of Safe Safracts Inc., which produces the packaging about training and guidelines for the device. Safe Braints Inc. is not involved in the lawsuit, but Hammond said that a clear written guidelines are important.

Hammond said that the wrap invented in the 1990s was designed in such a way that it quickly stops conflicts between law enforcement authorities and prisoners and at the same time prevent injuries. It does not use pain conformity such as electrical supports, pepper spray or batons.

“We are all people who are deeply interested and not only help the connections of the law enforcement authorities, but also help the community,” said Hammond. “Because without this tool they will come across another tool that causes considerable pain to make them stop.”

The device is now used in five countries and in 49 US states.

Hammond confirmed that seven sheriff offices in South Carolina are current wrap users. He said that Safe Braints Inc. offers the device a free lifespan training and can help agencies to develop guidelines.

“They guess without a written guideline and that is not standard,” said Hammond. “For every device you use, a guideline should be absolutely present, especially for the physical conflicts and practical use.”

A plan for medical reviews by the prisoner is an important part of this guideline.

“The fight can be stopped, they can upright and breathe, but they can be fragile,” said Hammond. “You can be intoxicated. You may have blood pressure or an increased heart rate. And these have to be addressed. And so the job is not done when the fight is over. The job is not done if we make sure you breathe, the job is done when we have done this care to give ourselves the best chance of having a positive outcome.”

Hammond said the packaging was equipped with the versatility, so that a prisoner's legs cannot be estimated, while its upper body remains reserved or vice versa.

“Our goal is to ensure that we give these agencies, these facilities and the equipment that will have a great advantage,” said Hammond. “And part of it is a guideline that deals with the equipment and what to do when someone is reserved and the travel times for training receive movement.”

Different guidelines

Fox Carolina Investigates submitted an application for freedom of information for a copy of the retention guideline for prisoners who were brought to the wrap in the custody center of Cherokee County. We also submitted FOIA requests to all departments of the sheriff in the upstate and confirmed that Pickens County and Anderson County also have the wrap.

The guidelines we saw were similar, but not identical to the time limits for the wrap or how often a packaged prisoner practice should be preserved.

Cherokee County

In Cherokee County's office policy, a shift manager has to approve the use of the wrap, which is normally kept in the booking area of ​​the prison.

In the guideline it says that subjects in the wrap should be isolated from other inmates, but should be observed every 15 minutes by the officials, and the check should be determined on an observation protocol.

Fox Carolina examines a recording request for the observation protocol from Bollinger's arrest, which was rejected.

“We keep the position that the observation documents would be part of the acts of medical providers, and the publication with pending legal disputes would be inappropriate and could lead to a hipaa violation,” said Sheriff Mueller.

In the guideline it says that the test subjects should not be left in the wrap for more than two hours, but the deadline can be extended under the supervision of a medical specialist or a supervisory supervisory supervisor. The subjects should not be left in the wrap for more than six hours, according to the guidelines.

The selection of the movement exercises “must be carried out regularly”, the document says, but does not contain any specific intervals.

Anderson County

In response to our initial FOIA request for guidelines for using the wrap, Anderson County Sheriff's Office said:

“The division of the Anderson County Sheriff's Office Uniquol uses the Wrap retention device and has no specific general order (guideline) that deals with the device.”

After the investigation by Fox Carolina had started asking questions, a spokesman for the Sheriff's office by Anderson County confirmed that they implement a directive for the device.

One spokesman later made it clear: “We were in a test period with the wrap device last year. The command is still in the middle of the writing directive.”

Fox Carolina Investigates asked the spokesman to clarify whether prisoners or occupants were brought to the wrap during the test period. We have not received an answer.

Pickens County

The Sheriff of the Pickens County's office uses the wrap and provided Fox Carolina with a comprehensive retention engineering directive. However, it is not expressly pointed out that it is used with the wrap device.

“I would like to find that the attached directive does not expressly indicate the” Wrap retention device “in the title or mentioned it in the directive, I assured that I have assured it [a lieutenant] The fact that this is the guideline that you follow when using the wrap remuneration, ”said a civil servant of the data records.

The guideline is for the use of a restraint chair that says that it must be approved by a layer of Sergeant or a higher authority. An inmate in the back chair must be observed at least once every 15 minutes, which needs to be documented.

In the guideline it says that the support chairman is approved for a maximum of two hours. The extension of this time must be approved by a sergeant or higher in consultation with a health service provider. The use of the wrap over four hours requires a written approval from a health service provider.

While an inmate is in the wrap, the guideline for movement areas should be carried out at least every two hours and documented in the protocol. If it is security concerns that cause these exercises to be moved forward, this must be documented.

According to Pickens County, an occupant should be supplied with a straw of water at least once an hour.

Meaning of politics

Dr. Genius Mondé, assistant professor of sociology at Furman University, has examined intensive interactions between the municipalities and law enforcement authorities.

“Since this is invoiced as painless, there may be a temptation to consider it not dangerous in any way,” said Mondé. “And that's not the same.”

Mondé said that it protects a clear guidelines for physical restrictions not only in prisoners – it also protects law enforcement.

“One of the problems we have seen again and again, be it with a physical reluctance or the use of violent power in this matter that communities of color, are always negatively influenced,” she said. “These guidelines not only help the public, but also ensures that the law enforcement authorities can say that they use everything this technique is used or mechanism in the population.”

Ultimately, Mondé said that she believes that the use of physical restraint should be a last resort for law enforcement.

“First and foremost, the best way to deal with the public is to use the oral orders. Methods that do not necessarily require that your physical person will be held back,” she said. “If you have a firearm or another type of weapon where you represent a clear, immediate, direct damage or danger for yourself or for someone in your area, then it may be effective.

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