L. A. County jailers more likely to use force on mentally ill inmates (LA Times)

[HelenWheels]

4. I worked in the Correctional field for 15 years

I saw many mentally ill inmates, adults and youths. Typically there would be one psychiatrist to treat 800 plus men. So basically there was no treatment. I saw many correctional officers who were kind and protected the mentally ill as best they could. I also saw officers who had no idea what to do when a mentally ill inmate acted out so they strong armed them and put them in security.
The saddest were the mentally ill young people. When I worked there if they acted out they were restrained on a bed with arms and legs cuffed to the bed. Thankfully this is no longer done.
Most of the problems with the kids were families that couldn't afford treatment or didn't care enough to get treatment. It was not recognized at that time (1980 - 2000) the reason these kids were in trouble so often was they were mentally ill, neglected or abused.
Sadly, we are reverting back to those times.