NAACP, Public Defender call for accountability after inmate deaths at Broward jails
FORT LAUDERDALE - The local branch of the NAACP and the Broward Public Defender Office are calling for accountability following accusations of negligence which led to the deaths of several inmates while in the custody of the Broward Sheriff's Office.
The civil rights group is calling on federal authorities to step in. They say the sheriff's office has failed the community and that 21 people have died in their custody since 2021.
In the last month, four inmates have died at the Broward County jail.
One those inmates was 29-year-old Genard Geffard who died in December after an explosive physical confrontation with his cellmate. Officials say Geffrard suffered from mental health issues before he was brutally beaten by a fellow cellmate who also was suffering from mental competency issues.
"They got my son here, we have no answers. Nobody said anything to us about what happened. I don't want no other family to go through what I am going through. Nobody knows what I am going through. I want somebody, BSO, whoever is supposed to watch my son, my son was not convicted, ain't nobody tell me anything," said Genard's father Jeff Geffard.
"The alarming number of deaths and distressing incidents within Broward County jails demands swift actions. We call upon the U.S. Department of Justice to conduct an immediate and thorough investigation into the Sheriff's Office's training and oversight, ensuring accountability for the lives lost and the well-being of those still in custody," said Marsha A. Ellison, president of the NAACP Broward branch in a statement.
Chief Public Defender Gordon Weekes recently took a tour of the main jail and said he found problems. He has written BSO Sheriff Gregory Tony three times in recent weeks asking for outside oversight at the jails
The NAACP said in addition to the reported deaths, there has been an incident of self-mutilation and on two occasions female detainees gave birth while alone in their cells despite cries for help.
When asked for a comment, a spokesperson for Sheriff Gregory Tony pointed to a statement from December 2022 in which the sheriff said more should be done to help inmates who suffer from mental illness while locked up.
In the 2022 letter to community stakeholders, Sheriff Tony said he was seeking solutions to reduce the length of stays for inmates experiencing mental illness and/or identify alternatives to incarceration.
CBS News Miami's Jim DeFede has reported extensively on systemic failures of the legal system, specifically when defendants or inmates are mentally ill.
Check out his documentary "WAREHOUSED: The Life and Death of Tristin Murphy."
