On September 4, 2012, the United States Department of Justice Civil Rights Division (DOJ) completed an investigation of the policing practices of the Escambia County Sheriff's Office (ECSO). Public records do not make clear when this investigation was commenced, however, at the same time DOJ was conducting a Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act (CRIPA) investigation into the jail operated by the ECSO. That investigation is included in this Clearinghouse under as JC-FL-0022.

DOJ closed the policing investigation without findings, but chose to issue a technical assistance letter to the ECSO. In it, DOJ did conclude that there were systematic deficiencies relating to the way in which ESCO officers used force that, if left unaddressed, may result in civil rights violations. Accordingly, the DOJ made three recommendations that would reduce the risk of future violations.

First, the DOJ found that ECSO's policies for use of force were lacking in accuracy, detail, and clarity. The DOJ recommended developing a new set of well crafted use of force policies that accurately state the constitutional standard for permissible force. The policies should also include terms regarding crowd control and guidelines for de-escalation. And new policies regarding firearms, canines, electronic control weapons, and chemical weapons were recommended. Second, the DOJ recommended that ECSO require its deputies to generate reports that appropriately detail how they and their colleagues use force while in the field. These reports should be prepared both when using force and when witnessing force used by another deputy. Third, the DOJ noted that ECSO should provide counseling, guidance, and training following a deputy's use of force. Supervisors should conduct on-site investigations of incidents and prepare oversight reports, should regularly review deputy conduct, should implement an early warning system, and improve supervision over the use of canines.

There is no further information regarding this case.

Richard Jolly - 11/25/2014
Jonah Hudson-Erdman - 09/05/2021


compress summary