Infrastructure Nightmares
Introduction to this Topic by the Editor
I need to give you a little background on Perryville so this will be more understandable. This prison was built in the early
Explaining the Shower Picture
This is an accurate sketch of a real shower in “B” yard, Santa Cruz unit. Do you see the loose wires hanging in the lower door jamb? I was told they were “live” because this shower light is still on. I won’t test this theory! I’ve tried to portray all the standing water in front of those wires. All the shower units have standing water because the drains are all plugged.
Standing water = black mold we see everywhere
When inmates complained about the condition of this shower, they just took off the door and left it open. In the shower next to this one (not pictured) is the same filth.
The regulators (hot and cold) will not engage so moving the handle from Hot to Cold does nothing. The temperature the DOC sets is what you get. In the winter the water is cold and in the summer, it’s hot. The water pressure would increase dramatically if they would soak the shower heads in Lime-aWay to remove 50 years of accumulated minerals.
Women on Santa Maria without toilet paper
Reported from staff members and inmate families: Deputy Warden Pitz sent back cases of toilet paper meant for 384 woman inmates. They have been without toilet paper for weeks.
When a new shipment comes in D.W. Pitz will only allow one roll per week for these women. In the meantime the ladies have to be creative, using trash and feminine sanitary products (which are also rationed.)
Women Suffer From Hazardous Vapors
Dateline Santa Maria: On October 22, 2019, between the hours of 9:30 and noon women residents on “B” yard, cells in block #2 (2105 to 21-12 and 22-10 to 22-12) were subjected to Natural Sealant 104 fumes. As workers were applying a roof coating, women noticed a harsh odor emanating from their ventilation in their cells. During that time there were reportedly two ICS (medical emergencies) for inmates on that block.
The woman worker that actually saw the name of the product sent us the information. We pulled up the Material Safety Data Sheet, This is some of what it said: vapor density – heavier than air; effects of exposure – irritation of the respiratory tract, headache, nausea, and dizziness (the women that reported this complained of these symptoms;) respiratory protection – do not breathe vapors, use NIOSH/MSHA respirators.
Reportedly, most of the women in this block defied lock-down (count between 11 and noon,) left cell doors open, or sat outside using inhalers.
We understand that Perryville is in dire need of repair, but couldn’t they do this work when the women could be out of their cells? Why do this at lock-down when there is no escape from the vapors? There is a big block of time between noon and4:00 PM to do this kind of thing.
Perryville staffing shortage becomes a safety concern for inmates
Arizona Department of Corrections is experiencing a mass exodus of employees. Many have left to join the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office. Others have been forced to retire in the wake of recent scandals and exposed corruption. Still more refuse to work for an administration that treats it’s employees as harshly as the inmates they house. But whatever the reason for the departure, there are more leaving than entering. This staffing shortage is causing serious safety concerns for Perryvill’s inmate population.
This last week an officer expressed concern that only one guard was on duty to cover three different medium custody yards during the graveyard shift. Each yard houses 192 women; that’s a total of 576 inmates to one single officer. Each yard is separated by distance, fencing, and locked gates. The total distance from the first yard to the last is a quarter-mile so most of the time that officer was not even within shouting distance for at least 2/3 of the population.
Yes, the majority of the inmates are asleep during this time and all but the night work crews are locked down, but emergencies still arise … heart attacks, asthma attacks, suicide, seizures, falls, and fights happen at all hours, including the night. When these situations occur the inmate has no way of notifying staff except to wait for someone to walk by. There is no emergency call button, no magic signal to call for help. The irony and horror are that if the guard does happen upon an emergency that takes time to deal with and the other yards and women are left unattended.
As the shortage of officers increase the stress to the remaining and any newly hired guards rise and can cause harm to the employee. It also causes outrageous overtime costs to ADC.
A couple of obvious remedies for this problem, ould be to increase officer wages to entice more staff to stay on, but that would put more of a burden on the State and Arizona taxpayers. The other solution would be to release those inmates that have shown positive change and responsible behavior through their employment, positive behavior records, and actively seeking volunteer programming. Reducing the inmate population would allow the current ADC staff to be less overwhelmed, the inmate population to be safer, and the newly released inmates would be paying taxes, parole fees, and contributing to their communities.
There is no one solution to this problem. However, it is definitely one that needs to be addressed immediately as it affects the safety and well being of human lives.
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