DEA apologizes to student who says he drank his urine to survive

[shawn703]

Source: Los Angeles Times

The Drug Enforcement Administration has apologized to a San Diego college student who said he drank his own urine to survive after being left in a holding cell for five days without food, water or access to a toilet.

The man, identified by news outlets as 23-year-old UC San Diego engineering student Daniel Chong, was “accidentally” left in the holding cell after he and eight other people were detained for questioning following an April 21 raid in which agents found guns, ammunition and an array of drugs, including 18,000 ecstasy pills, the DEA said.

“I am deeply troubled by the incident that occurred here last week,” William R. Sherman, acting special agent in charge of DEA's San Diego Division, said in a statement Wednesday.

“I extend my deepest apologies [to] the young man and want to express that this event is not indicative of the high standards that I hold my employees to,” Sherman said, adding he has ordered “an extensive review” of DEA policies and procedures.

Read more: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2012/05/dea-apologizes-to-student-who-drank-his-urine-to-survive.html

[mike_c]

1. no, but it's clearly indicative of the LOW standards DEA cops are held to....

Sheesh. Keep digging.

[Blue Owl]

2. Hmm... Sherman holds his employees to "high" standards, does he?

They must've been pretty high if they forgot about their own "suspect" in their own jail cell.

[Systematic Chaos]

3. I hope he gets a big enough settlement from those motherfuckers...

...that he'll never have to worry about whether or not he can use his college degree.

[wordpix]

23. unfortunately, that settlement is paid for by US taxpayers

[Jim Lane]

28. Probably but not necessarily

There's an important provision of federal law, section 1983 (42 U.S.C. § 1983), that allows for civil suits against government officials in their individual capacities. There's at least some possibility that culpable people will have to pay out of their own pockets.

[usrname]

4. And for your troubles

We have all these legal drugs that you can take, courtesy of our enablers, the big pharma companies.

[Liberal_in_LA]

5. He was a few hours from death when found. If he had died, they would have hushed it up.

[marble falls]

12. It would have been a suicide.

[Liberal_in_LA]

13. yep. Nevermind that he was malnourished and dehydrated.

[Tsiyu]

19. New slogan: "The drugs probably won't kill ya, but the DEA will." n/t

[marble falls]

21. DEA public affairs officer George Tirebinder replies,"yeah he was malnourished and....

dehydrated, but that only shows how determined he was to kill hisself. What else could the jailers do in this case? Our hands are tied by the bleeding heart commie court system forced on us by sharia court judges. He may have been handcuffed, but our hands are tied!"

My sister handled a case in Harris County (TX), where they beat an inmate to death and then hung him. The bed was bolted down and there was no chair or anything in the cell to step off of. He was found about three feet away from the bed hanging from the ceiling.

They finally settled with the family without admitting guilt.

This has to be the fifth or sixth such case I read about in last year.

"Oppps, sorry!" just doesn't begin to cut it.

[dixiegrrrrl]

25. I was called to evaluate a man in a local small town jail here

whose face was covered in cuts, bruises and blood.
cops claimed he had kept banging his own head into the bars, therefore was suicidal
( which is why they wanted the Mental Health consult, hoping he would be listed as suicidal))
but
there was no blood on the bars or walls outside of the bars, the guy was in pain, but could talk coherently, he was smart enough not to say anything in front of the 3 cops who were hanging around with their ears around the corner of the room.
So I played it straight, got his personal info and family member phone numbers
then told cops that due to his "self inflicted" injuries, they HAD to take him to the hospital ER,
emphazing he was NOT suicidal.
Met them there, had told ER doc to check for evidence of a beating,
called his family to let them know where he was, and suggested to him he get a lawyer right quick.
And documented the hell out of everything, in case his lawyer needed it.
That was in 1998, and I still remember it plain as day.

[marble falls]

26. scary stuff.

[NoMoreWarNow]

6. "this event is not indicative of the high standards that I hold my employees to"... riiiiiight

color me skeptical

[rocktivity]

7. "Acting Special Agent In Charge?" Well, THERE'S the problem -- no one IS in charge!

And losing track of detainees for FIVE days sound more like a complete breakdown than an "incident." And what does Mr. Acting Special Agent In Charge call the Holocaust -- overzealous frat house hazing?


rocktivity

[kestrel91316]

8. Oh dear, they forgot to consult their attorneys before ADMITTING GUILT.

Turn around, drop your pants, and spread 'em, DEA. Because you are so f----d.

[lib2DaBone]

9. The DEA has 10,000 employees in 60 countries around the globe...

employees involved in drug running, espionage, murder-for-hire and money laundering.

If Paul Ryan wants to cut the budget.. this would be a good place to start.

[AnneD]

29. I have to disagree....

the first place to cut is Homeland Security.

[NC_Nurse]

10. They like to call it the "war on drugs" but's it's really a war on human rights.

What a crock. I hope he gets millions in settlement money and they prosecute these people for negligence or worse.

[Dawson Leery]

11. Eliminating the DEA (and their parasites...agents) is one way to cut the deficit.

[Tsiyu]

15. It would be the BEST way to cut the deficit

Not only would we save a ton if we stop fighting an unwinnable war, but the billions in fines, incarceration, legal fees and court costs that are extorted from the common American citizen would also be put back into the economy.

It's a win-win.

This hideous episode of kidnapping and torture is a wake up call. The DEA is run by rogue motherfuckers who take the money and destroy human lives without a second thought. The only reason this DEA asshole is mentioning the whole sordid affair is because they got caught.

Abolish the DEA and our nation is safer, stronger, and fiscally more sound.

OBAMA? What say YOU??????

[iscooterliberally]

17. +1

[Liberal_in_LA]

14. more: He said when employees discovered him in the cell that they looked confused and nervous

He said when employees discovered him in the cell that they looked confused and nervous. A DEA employee rode with him to the hospital, where they paid for Chong’s visit.

http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/05/02/11502225-dea-apologizes-to-student-left-for-days-in-cell-with-no-food-or-water

[iscooterliberally]

16. The controlled substances act needs to be repealed.

We really do need to find out which politicians are prohibitionists and vote them out. This policy has caused so many problems in our country. We have more people in prison than any other nation. We can't tell the difference between our police and our military. The police have become an occupying military force in our own nation. Our 4th amendment rights have been taken away. There is no accountability. Who is going to police the DEA? They have far too much power and their agency needs to be overhauled and stripped of much of its power. Drugs should be traded legally and regulated rather than sold on the black market. Yes drug abuse is a problem, but this decades old policy does nothing to solve that, and everything to make matters much much worse. We now have a drug abuse problem and a citizen abuse problem. These types of stories will continue to appear until drastic changes are made.

[wordpix]

24. +1 and it's not like the policies are working, either

[struggle4progress]

18. A while back, a lawyer friend of mine successfully freed a guy

who'd been arrested over the weekend and stuck in a cell to see a judge Monday morning, but hadn't ever been brought before the judge after several months

He kept telling the jail staff: I've been here more months and I've never been charged or convicted

And the jail staff kept rolling their eyes, like Oh, yeah, sure: whatever you say

[longship]

20. So they admit fault...

This will not go to trial, but this guy is going to win big! We're sorry == we're guilty.

I imagine he's got many lawyers who will work pro bono. If so, good for him. If not, there's something wrong here.

[47of74]

22. Mr. Sherman should be jailed for a year with only enough bread and water...

...to survive.

That's the only way these idiots will learn.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

27. Sure: "we are sorry you drank your own urine."

Such a heartfelt apology.

In normal times, heads would roll.but these are not normal times.

The DHS and TSA are too powerful these days.

[PavePusher]

30. There should be some kind of standard-time-interval check....

of all facilities in a detention center.

Obviously this was not being done, or was being "pencil-whipped".