Tear gas, pepper spray use up in Texas prisons, including on suicidal inmates

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As violence behind bars continues to rise, Texas prisons over the past 10 years have seen a 71 percent increase in the use of chemical agents on inmates, often those attempting suicide or self-harm.

The shift comes amid an increase in the number of violent offenders and a growing mentally ill population - factors that prison officials and officers cite in explaining the growing reliance on tools like pepper spray and tear gas.

"It might be controversial, but when you have somebody who's cutting himself with a razor blade, that's the best approach," said Lance Lowry, a Huntsville officer and former union president. "Their focus goes from, 'Hey, I wanna kill myself' to, 'Hey, this stuff burns.'"

But some advocates forcefully disagreed about the value of using chemical agents - a category of less-than-lethal weapons including everything from pepper foggers to "rubber ball grenades" - on prisoners in a mental health crisis.

"That's horrifying," said Doug Smith, a policy analyst with the Texas Criminal Justice Coalition."I'm really too horrified to comment."

In 2007, officers used chemical agents just over 3,000 times, according to data in monthly Emergency Action Center reports obtained by the Chronicle. Last year, staff used chemical agents more than 5,200 times.

Typically, thwarting suicide and self-harm has been one of the key reasons listed for deploying the non-lethal weapons. Other commonly cited reasons include disturbances or assaults and refusing strip-search and handcuff procedures.

In May 2008, about 20 percent of chemical agent uses were on inmates attempting suicide or self-harm. By December 2011, that number rose to 24 percent, and in the last four months of 2017 it was consistently over 29 percent.

Over the same time frame, inmate suicide attempts more than doubled, though the Texas Department of Criminal Justice attributed that shift to a broadened definition of what counts as a suicide attempt.

Meanwhile, serious inmate assaults - another possible reason for using chemical agents - increased by 35 percent between 2007 and 2017.

"Staff is dealing with a more hardened, violent inmate population," TDCJ spokesman Jason Clark said Monday. In 2007, there were 75,124 prisoners serving time for violent offenses. By last year, that number rose to more than 80,000.

Over the same timeframe, Clark said, the number of mentally ill inmates increased by 17 percent.

In a story published last week in the Chronicle, an official with the University of Texas Medical Branch, which oversees mental health and medical care at most Texas prisons, estimated that the number of mentally ill inmates may have doubled.

Some officers saw the uptick in chemical agent use as a positive sign that suicide prevention is "truly a top priority."

"Honestly I would rather go home knowing a guy was uncomfortable but alive than dead," said one corrections officer, who asked to remain anonymous as he was not authorized to speak publicly.

Sometimes, he said, there aren't enough officers to safely enter a cell and stop a suicide attempt - and deploying a chemical agent from outside the cell might be the next best option, especially if the prisoner has a sharp object.

Also, he added, there's always the possible threat of prisoners trying to "lure an officer into the cell to assault them."

"I would rather accidentally use chemical agents and be wrong than not and he commit suicide," the officer said. "I can do probation for the mistake. At least he lives."

Michele Deitch, an attorney and criminal justice consultant who teaches at UT-Austin's LBJ School of Public Affairs, decried the practice.

"I do not think there is any legitimate justification for use of such weapons," she said. "Staff should be trained in appropriate practices for de-escalating the situation, calling in mental health staff, and using a non-violent approach towards these suicidal individuals."

Greg Hansch, public policy director with National Alliance on Mental Illness Texas, called it "concerning" and touted the use of de-escalation and crisis intervention techniques.

"That said, there are scenarios that come up in which something else is needed to address the situation and there should be less restrictive means pursued to restrain the person," he said. "Chemical restraint should be more of a last resort than a standard practice."

Dr. Joseph Penn, the director of mental health services at UTMB, said he had did not have an opinion on the use of chemical agents on inmates attempting self-harm or suicide.