There are questions tonight whether a Greenville police officer violated departmental policy moments before a prisoner escaped.

Police say Justin Barnes escaped from an interview room at the police department Wednesday night after an officer left the room to notify a supervisor.

Through an open records request, WITN obtained the police department's policy on temporary detentions. It says officers shall maintain eye contact with prisoners at all times, except for restroom visits.

Barnes, wanted for an armed robbery, is still on the run. Greenville police say an internal investigation is underway into the escape.

Greenville Police Department Policy
71.4.1
TEMPORARY DETENTION
CALEA Standard: 72.9.1, 72.9.2, 72.9.3, 72.9.4, 72.9.5, 72.9.6, 72.9.7

TEMPORARY DETAINEES

The Greenville Police Department does not operate a temporary holding facility. The purpose of this general order is to establish procedures for the supervision, accountability, safety, and security of temporary detainees brought to the Police Department for arrest processing and/or testing of prisoners and detainees. The transporting officer is responsible for the safety and security of persons brought to the Police Department until relieved by another officer assuming responsibility for the individual.

All persons temporarily detained at the Greenville Police Department shall be under the continuous control or supervision of the transporting officer or an officer assigned to guard or process detainees. At no time will any detainee be left unattended. Because detainees are not held at the police department and are only transported here for processing, interviewing, or, in rare circumstance, for a Voice Stress Analysis, there is no formal documentation in logging the detainee’s time here or reason for being in the building. Supervision shall require that sworn Department personnel be assigned to maintain eye contact with the detainee at all times except for restroom visits as previously detailed in this directive.

If at any time the transporting officer or officer assigned to guard a detainee must leave the detainee’s presence, another officer shall be required to maintain eye contact with the detainee until the previous officer has returned. If an officer at the station is not available to remain with the detainee, a patrol officer shall be called into the station to remain with the detainee. It shall be the responsibility of the officer assigned to guard the detainee to secure a replacement officer to remain with the detainee as a guarding officer before the former guarding officer leaves the presence of his/her detainee.

Detainees are not to be handcuffed to any fixed object unless the object is designed or intended for that use. Juvenile detainees may not be handcuffed to any fixed object at any time. Officers are to ensure that male and females are detained separately. Likewise, adults and juveniles shall be detained separately.

Booking/Interview Areas

The Greenville Police Department has designated the following rooms for use in detainee processing, testing, or temporary holding:

· Booking/Processing Room

· Interview Room (Second Floor)

· Interview/Voice Stress Analysis Room (Second Floor)

· Roll Call/Briefing Room (To be used only as a last resort when detainees need to be separated and the above areas are unavailable)

The officer responsible for the detainee will ensure that the subject is provided access to water, restrooms, and other basic needs in a timely manner.

In the event of a fire, officers will remove the detainee from the area following established evacuation procedures. A fire evacuation route is posted on each floor of the Greenville Police Department. It is the officer’s responsibility to maintain control of detainees in the event of an evacuation of the building.

Security

When transporting a detainee to the police department for processing, the arresting officer will use the Sally Port area and secure their weapon as outlined in SOP 71-3-1. When utilizing the booking room with a detainee, officers are to secure their firearms in the lock box provided. It is not necessary to secure weapons when detainees are taken to other areas in the building, but caution should be exercised at all times.

Officers will complete a security search of the room for contraband or weapons prior to placing the individual in the room. All detainees will be thoroughly searched for weapons, contraband, and evidence prior to being placed in the room. After removing the detainee from the room, officers will conduct another search of the room. The officer responsible for the detainee will limit and control access to the room occupied by the detainee.

If a detainee escapes from custody officers should follow the same guidelines as outlined in Policy 71.1.4.

Training

Employees responsible for temporary detainees at any time will receive training in the form of roll call training, field training, or during annual in-service training and retraining at least once every three years. This training will include officer safety issues, dealing with combative detainees, the proper use of designated booking/interview areas, and facility security issues

Original Story

A local man escapes from police custody yesterday-- now they need your help finding him.

Detectives say they arrested Justin Barnes yesterday afternoon, initially for trespassing.

But after further investigation, Greenville police realized Barnes was wanted in the armed robbery of a woman on Paige road in Greenville.

Once at the police station, officers say they left him alone in the interview room, but once they returned, Barnes was gone.

They say the 20 year old is a felon and goes by the nickname of "Shug."

Call Crimestoppers at 758-7777 if you know his whereabouts.