October 6, 2002
This story took me several weeks to finish. As you notice the date I started is a month ago. I am posting this on July, 22 2009.
October 6, 2002
It is a day I will remember for the rest of my life. I was working the 10pm to 6 am shift at the Bay County Jail Annex in Panama City Florida. During that time the facility was under the direction of a private company called, Corrections Corporation of America (C.C.A.). I was approaching my two year anniversary with the company, having worked my entire time in corrections at the Bay County jail and jail annex locations.
It was a shift like many others. That night I was scheduled to be the "transportation" officer, which meant I would be responsible for transporting inmates to and from the annex for whatever reasons there might be. Some of those reasons might include; release from custody which was done through the downtown jail, early morning trips to the main jail downtown for holding until court, and trips to the hospital should they become necessary. Being transport officer was sort of like having a night off, in that if no transports were needed you could basically "roam" around and help out whenever or where ever needed. Sadly we were usually so short handed that to be simply transport was a rare event, normally we were required to be transport and lets say the "second" post officer or some other duel function for the shift. So in the event we were blessed to have enough officers it usually meant we were going to do things that we might normally have trouble doing with fewer officers.On this night it was decided by our fearless leaders we would do "shakedowns". The dorm to be searched that night would be B-dorm. Normally the dorm chosen depended on which supervisor was working, because they were required to complete a certain number of shakedowns each month. And each supervisor was assigned a dorm of which they were responsible.We started the shakedown as best I can remember at about 11:30pm (Oct. 5) and regardless of what the newspaper might have said it lasted more than 5 minutes. When we started the process it was the brilliant idea of our supervisors to move the inmates from the dorm out into a room (unsecure) in the hallway outside the dorm, all 60 or so inmates. This room was only about fifteen feet deep by thirty feet wide. I guess the idea was to have one...that's right one officer stand outside the room (door open for air) and the remaining officers involved in the search be in the dorm. I must add there was one additional officer actually on post to maintain the other 2 dorms at that post (post 6).After all 60 or so inmates were moved into the room outside in the hallway we began the search, as best as I can recall there were two supervisors, myself and three other officers. Usually we started on opposite sides and worked toward the center/each other. Nothing of great interest was discovered during this shakedown, and at some point I left the dorm to retrieve additional latex gloves. While on my way back with the gloves to complete the search a supervisor asked (over the radio) for someone to find out who (which inmate) slept in a particular bunk, because the master key to gain access to the foot locker would not open the lock, this usually happened when an inmate was somehow allowed to use a non-jail issued combination lock. So as I was about to re-enter the dorm I agreed to step into the room where the inmates were and ask who slept in bunk number 45, or maybe it was 48 not sure of the exact bunk now. After all it is going on seven years ago now. When I asked the inmates in the room who slept in the bunk in question, at first I got the typical inmate response...a bunch of “not me’s and I don't know’s”. After explaining that we will simply cut the lock off unless someone opens it, someone stepped up and said, "it might be mine". So I took Chad Littles back into the dorm for the last time. Turns out it was not even his locker. After it was determined that it was not his locker he didn't return back out to the room with the other inmates, instead he hung out, alone, by the ping pong table until after the shakedown.It was now about ten minutes into the 6th day of October, 2002. The shakedown turned up nothing of great value, certainly nothing to bring any inmates into trouble. In fact whatever was found could not even be linked to anyone in particular. Back in the supervisor’s office as paperwork was being completed and the long night of hoping for boredom began the telephone rang; it was post six calling to say there was a "man down” in B-dorm. Supervisor Hardy took the call and without a word began to rush from the office, luckily supervisor Blackman stopped her and asked what was going on or we may have missed the whole thing; an idea in retrospect that would have suited us just fine. Never did understand why they didn't put that call out on the radio which was the usual practice. The medical department had a radio in their office to hear emergency calls at the same time as security in order to speed up response times. It also allows everyone else that needed to respond to do so. Turns out it would not have mattered either way.
If you have never seen a person who has been beaten to death only seconds ago, you are much better off for that. At the time we entered the dorm we had no idea 18 year old Chad Littles was dead or moments from certain death. We only knew he was hurt, and while we usually knew from instinct it would end up being due to violence at that moment we only knew he needed help. No matter how often you train and practice, until something happens you will never be sure how you will respond. I am just glad I was able to do my job, and to this very moment I have always wondered if I could have done more. Just as we were trained, we determined CPR was needed and as the nurse arrived we began 2 person CPR and between several of us rotated this task until paramedics arrived to take over. It is strange what you remember about traumatic events such as me having to explain to an officer why he needed to use a post telephone to instruct the control room operator to call 911, instead of using the hand held radio. For those reading this not involved in this type of work or environment, you would use the phone in place of the radio to assure the correct information was given and received and also to maintain a degree of privacy which adds to facility safety and security. And as sad as it might be many inmates couldn't care less and would take the opportunity to create additional problems elsewhere. Oddly, I also had to explain that to several lawyers in the wrongful death suit deposition later on. I guess their excuse might have been they are always looking to uncover the secrets and expose the cover up.
For everyone involved this was a horrific event, an event that for many ended when the paramedics rolled Chad Littles out the door. This would be true for everyone that is except me. If you remember at the start of this story I told you I was the transportation officer that night, well it was time to transport. I was fortunate enough to ride in the back of the ambulance and assist the paramedic in "bagging" (apply the Ambu bag to force air into the lungs) the patient. I also remember how a 15 minute ride felt like hours as I looked out the side window wondering why we are only just now passing Transmitter road. I also took notice of my own family sleeping and unaware as we passed by my house on the road in which we were traveling. It seemed like something out of a movie as shot after shot of adrenaline and epinephrine were given, and whose effects only lasted mere seconds. The sounds of a person lingering in or near death, reacting to attempts at resuscitation will haunt me for the rest of my days. It truly is a sound you can never forget. I looked at his face and felt so sad for his pain and for his family who will soon learn he is no longer of this world.
You might think that after arriving at the hospital my job would get easier, well so did I. Turns out that an inmate in Florida remains in custody until the coroner physically take possession of the body. So even after standing by and watching the emergency room staff try to revive Chad Littles and for the first time getting to witness a person being pronounced dead and then learning that the minister under contract for CCA who was supposed to handle family notifications and meet the families at the hospital was in fact going to be late, thus making me the first person to face his family and try to answer questions without answering questions (for legal reasons not to mention I didn't know anything) until the minister finally arrived. Oh lest I forget the observation of the crime scene investigators doing their part and so after all of that I then had to wait an eternity longer before the coroner arrived to release me from my duty. I then had to return to the jail annex (5am) and write my statement of the events, which due to the seriousness of this event was followed by a taped statement to law enforcement. And by the way when the hospital calls the coroner in these type situations I guess it is standard to answer questions from the coroner related to the death and mechanisms or causes, sure was an awkward telephone conversation.For weeks I would think I saw someone who looked as if they might be related to Chad Littles in public like when I was in stores or whatever, meaning they resembled him. I remember thinking 'oh fuck they know who I am and are going to yell at me or perhaps want to attack me, or worse still they might simply want to ask why did this happen?' I would turn quickly and walk another direction. I remember for a long time I would question my CPR performance on that night, did I do it right...I think my hands were in the wrong place...what if I did more harm than good...what if my pathetic CPR skills actually killed him and so on. I also couldn't shake the thoughts of being the person that brought him in the dorm during the shakedown, this would not matter normally except that the reason this all occurred was because those who killed him did so because they thought he snitched or ratted them out while he was in the dorm during the shakedown. So in my mind maybe if I had taken him back out he might still be alive, alive to see his newborn child.For those of us involved that night CCA offered no time off, no counseling (other than that same minister) and the very next night I was assigned to work post 6 and walk right where Chad Littles died some 24 hours ago. In the end the longest prison sentence given to any of the 5 inmates that killed Chad Littles was 7 years, if I am not mistaken. And justice for all.
October 6, 2002
It is a day I will remember for the rest of my life. I was working the 10pm to 6 am shift at the Bay County Jail Annex in Panama City Florida. During that time the facility was under the direction of a private company called, Corrections Corporation of America (C.C.A.). I was approaching my two year anniversary with the company, having worked my entire time in corrections at the Bay County jail and jail annex locations.
It was a shift like many others. That night I was scheduled to be the "transportation" officer, which meant I would be responsible for transporting inmates to and from the annex for whatever reasons there might be. Some of those reasons might include; release from custody which was done through the downtown jail, early morning trips to the main jail downtown for holding until court, and trips to the hospital should they become necessary. Being transport officer was sort of like having a night off, in that if no transports were needed you could basically "roam" around and help out whenever or where ever needed. Sadly we were usually so short handed that to be simply transport was a rare event, normally we were required to be transport and lets say the "second" post officer or some other duel function for the shift. So in the event we were blessed to have enough officers it usually meant we were going to do things that we might normally have trouble doing with fewer officers.On this night it was decided by our fearless leaders we would do "shakedowns". The dorm to be searched that night would be B-dorm. Normally the dorm chosen depended on which supervisor was working, because they were required to complete a certain number of shakedowns each month. And each supervisor was assigned a dorm of which they were responsible.We started the shakedown as best I can remember at about 11:30pm (Oct. 5) and regardless of what the newspaper might have said it lasted more than 5 minutes. When we started the process it was the brilliant idea of our supervisors to move the inmates from the dorm out into a room (unsecure) in the hallway outside the dorm, all 60 or so inmates. This room was only about fifteen feet deep by thirty feet wide. I guess the idea was to have one...that's right one officer stand outside the room (door open for air) and the remaining officers involved in the search be in the dorm. I must add there was one additional officer actually on post to maintain the other 2 dorms at that post (post 6).After all 60 or so inmates were moved into the room outside in the hallway we began the search, as best as I can recall there were two supervisors, myself and three other officers. Usually we started on opposite sides and worked toward the center/each other. Nothing of great interest was discovered during this shakedown, and at some point I left the dorm to retrieve additional latex gloves. While on my way back with the gloves to complete the search a supervisor asked (over the radio) for someone to find out who (which inmate) slept in a particular bunk, because the master key to gain access to the foot locker would not open the lock, this usually happened when an inmate was somehow allowed to use a non-jail issued combination lock. So as I was about to re-enter the dorm I agreed to step into the room where the inmates were and ask who slept in bunk number 45, or maybe it was 48 not sure of the exact bunk now. After all it is going on seven years ago now. When I asked the inmates in the room who slept in the bunk in question, at first I got the typical inmate response...a bunch of “not me’s and I don't know’s”. After explaining that we will simply cut the lock off unless someone opens it, someone stepped up and said, "it might be mine". So I took Chad Littles back into the dorm for the last time. Turns out it was not even his locker. After it was determined that it was not his locker he didn't return back out to the room with the other inmates, instead he hung out, alone, by the ping pong table until after the shakedown.It was now about ten minutes into the 6th day of October, 2002. The shakedown turned up nothing of great value, certainly nothing to bring any inmates into trouble. In fact whatever was found could not even be linked to anyone in particular. Back in the supervisor’s office as paperwork was being completed and the long night of hoping for boredom began the telephone rang; it was post six calling to say there was a "man down” in B-dorm. Supervisor Hardy took the call and without a word began to rush from the office, luckily supervisor Blackman stopped her and asked what was going on or we may have missed the whole thing; an idea in retrospect that would have suited us just fine. Never did understand why they didn't put that call out on the radio which was the usual practice. The medical department had a radio in their office to hear emergency calls at the same time as security in order to speed up response times. It also allows everyone else that needed to respond to do so. Turns out it would not have mattered either way.
If you have never seen a person who has been beaten to death only seconds ago, you are much better off for that. At the time we entered the dorm we had no idea 18 year old Chad Littles was dead or moments from certain death. We only knew he was hurt, and while we usually knew from instinct it would end up being due to violence at that moment we only knew he needed help. No matter how often you train and practice, until something happens you will never be sure how you will respond. I am just glad I was able to do my job, and to this very moment I have always wondered if I could have done more. Just as we were trained, we determined CPR was needed and as the nurse arrived we began 2 person CPR and between several of us rotated this task until paramedics arrived to take over. It is strange what you remember about traumatic events such as me having to explain to an officer why he needed to use a post telephone to instruct the control room operator to call 911, instead of using the hand held radio. For those reading this not involved in this type of work or environment, you would use the phone in place of the radio to assure the correct information was given and received and also to maintain a degree of privacy which adds to facility safety and security. And as sad as it might be many inmates couldn't care less and would take the opportunity to create additional problems elsewhere. Oddly, I also had to explain that to several lawyers in the wrongful death suit deposition later on. I guess their excuse might have been they are always looking to uncover the secrets and expose the cover up.
For everyone involved this was a horrific event, an event that for many ended when the paramedics rolled Chad Littles out the door. This would be true for everyone that is except me. If you remember at the start of this story I told you I was the transportation officer that night, well it was time to transport. I was fortunate enough to ride in the back of the ambulance and assist the paramedic in "bagging" (apply the Ambu bag to force air into the lungs) the patient. I also remember how a 15 minute ride felt like hours as I looked out the side window wondering why we are only just now passing Transmitter road. I also took notice of my own family sleeping and unaware as we passed by my house on the road in which we were traveling. It seemed like something out of a movie as shot after shot of adrenaline and epinephrine were given, and whose effects only lasted mere seconds. The sounds of a person lingering in or near death, reacting to attempts at resuscitation will haunt me for the rest of my days. It truly is a sound you can never forget. I looked at his face and felt so sad for his pain and for his family who will soon learn he is no longer of this world.
You might think that after arriving at the hospital my job would get easier, well so did I. Turns out that an inmate in Florida remains in custody until the coroner physically take possession of the body. So even after standing by and watching the emergency room staff try to revive Chad Littles and for the first time getting to witness a person being pronounced dead and then learning that the minister under contract for CCA who was supposed to handle family notifications and meet the families at the hospital was in fact going to be late, thus making me the first person to face his family and try to answer questions without answering questions (for legal reasons not to mention I didn't know anything) until the minister finally arrived. Oh lest I forget the observation of the crime scene investigators doing their part and so after all of that I then had to wait an eternity longer before the coroner arrived to release me from my duty. I then had to return to the jail annex (5am) and write my statement of the events, which due to the seriousness of this event was followed by a taped statement to law enforcement. And by the way when the hospital calls the coroner in these type situations I guess it is standard to answer questions from the coroner related to the death and mechanisms or causes, sure was an awkward telephone conversation.For weeks I would think I saw someone who looked as if they might be related to Chad Littles in public like when I was in stores or whatever, meaning they resembled him. I remember thinking 'oh fuck they know who I am and are going to yell at me or perhaps want to attack me, or worse still they might simply want to ask why did this happen?' I would turn quickly and walk another direction. I remember for a long time I would question my CPR performance on that night, did I do it right...I think my hands were in the wrong place...what if I did more harm than good...what if my pathetic CPR skills actually killed him and so on. I also couldn't shake the thoughts of being the person that brought him in the dorm during the shakedown, this would not matter normally except that the reason this all occurred was because those who killed him did so because they thought he snitched or ratted them out while he was in the dorm during the shakedown. So in my mind maybe if I had taken him back out he might still be alive, alive to see his newborn child.For those of us involved that night CCA offered no time off, no counseling (other than that same minister) and the very next night I was assigned to work post 6 and walk right where Chad Littles died some 24 hours ago. In the end the longest prison sentence given to any of the 5 inmates that killed Chad Littles was 7 years, if I am not mistaken. And justice for all.
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