Santa Clara County deputies brag about beating incarcerated people “between floors” and other brutal behavior at the county’s embattled jail, according to screenshots shared with San José Spotlight.
In a private Facebook group that includes 270 former correctional officers and deputies, the members banter about the jail’s elevators making suspicious stops — a reference to how people would be beaten there — and finding “cornrows” littered inside the elevator, referring to hair being ripped off incarcerated people.
The screenshots come from Sean Allen, the NAACP of San Jose/Silicon Valley’s new president and former correctional officer. For years, Allen has personally attested to issues at the jail, which is being investigated by Attorney General Rob Bonta over patterns of misconduct and resistance to lawful oversight.
“There has long been an unlawful pattern of abuse against people of color in the jails,” said Allen, who started working at the county jail in the 1990. “These people are boasting about their involvement. There are other people on the thread reading these messages and condoning the comments because they’re not pushing back with their own. I read every post. And I’m thinking, ‘Why is no one else pushing back?'”
Sheriff Bob Jonsen said the Facebook page was created before he took office in 2022. The comments were made several years ago in response to a post sharing old photos of Main Jail South, which was demolished in 2018.
“As sheriff, I am committed to fostering a respectful and inclusive environment for all. These comments do not reflect my values or the culture we are building at the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office,” Jonsen told San José Spotlight.
The group comments reviewed by San José Spotlight repeatedly mention elevator rides with incarcerated people. A 2016 county report on jail conditions described myriad occasions where deputies used the elevators to brutalize incarcerated people due to the absence of cameras.
In one comment, a member of the group poses a question: “Why did the Elevator sometimes STOP between the 1st and 2nd Floors?”
Another writes, “I actually recall using the safety cells at the end of the pits on the rare occasion that the safety cell by med I were full. Or going into the elevator after an elevator ride and finding the floor littered with cornrows.”
A third member of the group writes, “Ah the memories… The elevator rides, safety cell through the pits…”
One incarcerated person interviewed for the county’s 2016 report said they could hear other people “screaming and pleading” during those rides. Another recalls six correctional officers beating an incarcerated person, who was handcuffed, after booking. Another told interviewers the practice was around as early as the 1960s. The county’s elevator rides also come up in discussions among online communities of formerly incarcerated people in Northern California.
Jonsen said his office is dedicated to “the highest standards” of integrity and accountability.
“I will be sure to invite the incoming president of the Silicon Valley NAACP to the (civilian oversight panel) update on our administrative investigations process,” Jonsen said. “Comprehensive investigations and meaningful reforms are necessary steps to create a culture of trust, not just between law enforcement and the community, but within the ranks of law enforcement itself.”
The Facebook group in Allen’s screenshots is titled “10-36SCCSO,” which stands for “confidential” in police code. It’s one of several private group chats among Silicon Valley law enforcement circles that have emerged over the years. Last year, San Jose police officer Mark McNamara resigned over racist texts sent to other officers after shooting a Black man in early 2022. In 2018, Deputy Sheriffs’ Association President Don Morrissey stepped down for his involvement in group texts exchanging racist, homophobic and misogynist messages between several deputies.
Correctional officer behavior
Michael Gennaco, whose county-contracted OIR Group conducts oversight of the sheriff’s office, said he hasn’t seen any evidence the current administration reflects the attitudes of the private Facebook comments.
But that doesn’t mean it’s not happening, he added.
“Certainly the jail can be a closed system — so we have to continue to be vigilant,” Gennaco told San José Spotlight. “But we haven’t seen any evidence of this kind of blatant disrespect for people and those who are incarcerated under the current administration. I don’t have any evidence that it’s happening today.”
Gennaco’s office regularly reviews and reports on sheriff use of force. An update will go before the county’s civilian oversight panel early next year with an overview of sheriff administrative investigations. Sheriff officials say they’ll also provide an update on Senate Bill 400, signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom in February, which allows the public disclosure of police officers who were fired for cause.
“We continue to have misconduct going on at the sheriff’s office, and that’s what we’re all about. We’ll be reporting next year about the misconduct cases that we are seeing,” Gennaco said.
Gennaco said the screenshots warrant a conversation. In certain instances, private law enforcement group chats can be a seriously liability, he said, undermining criminal prosecutions if they involve active employees discussing active cases under investigation.
While some comments in the private Facebook group invoked experiences from several decades ago, Allen said several people who rose to leadership roles started their careers around that time.
One example is Jonsen’s predecessor, former Sheriff Laurie Smith, who started as a jail deputy in 1973. During her later time as the county’s top cop in 2015, three jail guards fatally beat Michael Tyree, who was mentally ill and found dead in his cell. The guards were found guilty of second-degree murder in 2017, but appealed their convictions after changes to state murder laws. A judge overturned the convictions in 2022. In August, all three guards pleaded guilty to manslaughter ahead of county prosecutors’ plans to retry the case. Tyree’s death spurred the 2016 county jail report that separately called attention to the elevator beatings.
Smith also came under fire in 2022. That year, the county oversight office released an explosive report determining her administration failed at nearly every level while handling and later investigating a 2018 incident in which a person incarcerated in the county jail, Andrew Hogan, was allowed to self harm and received slow medical care.
Smith didn’t respond to requests for comment.
The private Facebook group comments reflect a culture that endures today, Allen said.
“This is the foundation of it,” he told San José Spotlight.
Contact Brandon Pho at [email protected] or @brandonphooo on X, formerly known as Twitter.
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