RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - An investigator reviewing recent deaths in Virginia jails says he's found at least four cases of officers falsifying logbooks by claiming to have made proper checks on inmates who died.
The Richmond Times-Dispatch reports two officers at the Portsmouth City Jail and two others at the Piedmont Regional Jail near Farmville were fired for the policy violations.
The investigator, Stephen Goff, started work in November reviewing jail deaths for the state Board of Corrections. Lawmakers funded his position and a second one in response to the death of Jamycheal Mitchell, a 24-year-old mentally ill inmate at the Hampton Roads Regional Jail.
Goff's work is ongoing. He is analyzing deaths back to July 1, 2017. He has reviewed 43 cases so far and has 25 pending.
