Advocates question TYC's pepper spray plan

10:53 AM CDT on Sunday, August 12, 2007

Associated Press

AUSTIN -- A Texas Youth Commission proposal to have guards rely on pepper spray to subdue unruly juvenile prisoners has angered justice advocates, who call the practice barbaric and regressive.

“It sends the message that the TYC is moving more toward an adult correctional system, as opposed to a rehabilitative juvenile system,” said Isela Gutierrez, coordinator of the Texas Coalition Advocating Justice for Juveniles.

TYC officials say using pepper spray will reduce injuries to staff and inmates and lower workers’ compensation claims, which they say are the highest in the nation among youth prison systems. Last year, 16 percent of TYC employees filed claims, with nearly all injuries reportedly suffered while restraining an inmate or breaking up a fight.

The commission has “got to do something to cut down on the number of injuries to youth and staff in restraint situations,” said TYC spokesman Jim Hurley.

Under current guidelines, TYC guards can use pepper spray only when the inmate is putting himself or others at risk and after “less restrictive interventions” have failed. These other interventions include reasoning with inmates and takedowns.

“The result, generally, with pepper spray, is that we get compliance immediately, without injury,” Hurley said. “You have to ask yourself, ‘Do we go in with a bunch of people and try to do a takedown, or do we use pepper spray?”’

But Gutierrez said she fears poorly trained guards using pepper spray as a first resort, or the effect it will have on inmates with respiratory problems. TYC officials say the pepper spray they use is only half the strength of what’s used in the adult system.

Whereas physical restraints often lead to broken arms, pepper spray causes teary eyes for five to 20 minutes and poses “no real restrictions for any medical condition,” said Dr. Owen Murray of the University of Texas Medical Branch, who oversees health care inside the TYC.

Michael Dale, a Florida-based juvenile justice expert, said a reliance on pepper spray would show the TYC is taking a step backward.

“It’s absolutely the wrong direction, and it’s a shame,” Dale said. “Rather than looking at options that require greater skill, greater training, greater education ... pepper spray is just the easy way out.”