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.
“I lay on the hot cement for hours with a broken back and leg!”
Dateline Lumley: We were suspicious of this story until we saw the legal paperwork from her lawyer that confirmed it. This is her post.
” In December of 2019, I was struggling with one of the cell doors that wouldn’t close. In that effort, I fell to the floor abruptly and heard a crack in my back. I was told by medical it was just a “bruise”.
Later on in the year, my legs would suddenly turn numb and I’d fall. This got worse until July 12th when my legs went out and I fell hard. This happened at about 10 in the morning. I felt severe pain in my right thigh and heard a crack. I looked at my thigh and saw a bulge under the skin.
Various guards said I was “faking” and would not call an ICS for medical help. Even the Lieutenant said, “You can just lie there because we’re not calling medical, and I’m giving you a ticket for not locking down. And then I’m going to lock you up for 72 hours straight.”. The guards just taunted me while I lay on hot concrete, with what I was sure, a broken leg. I lay crying like that until after count when the COIV told them to bring me to her office. They put me in a wheelchair and told me to “drive myself” to her office. After painfully wheeling myself to the COIV’s door, she let me wait in the hot sun for another 2 hours. She finally came out of her office to say, “Look I know your faking, so I’m not going to call medical.”
Finally, at 3 pm when it was obvious wasn’t moving, I was taken to medical, where they noticed my strange looking leg. The nurse immediately called the Doctor at the complex, and he directed me to X-Ray. When the X-Ray came back the technician screamed, “Oh my God she has a broken femur!”. Then things started to happen. I was rushed to the hospital with a compound fracture of the femur. That hospital examined me and said I needed immediate surgery at the trauma center. I was rushed to the roof to be transported by helicopter to the Trauma Center hospital.
It took two surgeries to fix my leg. In the midst of this stay, the hospital told me I also had a broken back! The “bruise” they refused to x-ray in December, was two compressed fractures in my lower back. This was the reason for my falling, because of the pressure on my nerves that control the legs!
Will another million dollar lawsuit cure the DOC of reckless endangerment and outright cruelty? I doubt it. Please voters….vote with your heart this election day. Vote for prison reform and human decency.”
RATS taking over Perryville!
We posted a story on Sept 26th about rats at complex kitchen, but since then people have reported severe rat infestations at all units.
An eyewitness at SANTA CRUZ files this story. “The rats started invading the grounds near the V gate a few months ago. This rapidly spread to the inmates’ cells, the lobby, the kitchens, and Admin buildings. I was given the opportunity to observe the cameras during the night shift, and what I saw was chilling. In all the buildings covered, you could see rats with green eyes running all over the place.”. SANTA MARIA, SAN PEDRO, and LUMLEY report similar stories.
The only mitigating efforts by staff has been “sticky” traps, and allegedly… poison. Several inmates have seen dead pigeons, ground squirrels, and owls.
Dept of Health has been notified.
Comparing the US to Nordic prisons
(Nordic countries: Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Iceland and Norway). Nordic prisons regularly pose the question, ‘why can’t Americans be more humane in dealing with the incarcerated?’. US prisons are walled camps under military-like occupation. Nordic prisons are supervised communities.
An American reporter described his visit to Little Lava prison in Iceland. ” It was a gray day in Iceland, and Officer Birgisson asked if we would like to see the mess hall. We were surprised to see staff and inmates eating together. Next was a shop where men built picnic benches or washed cars of the surrounding citizens.
This is an open prison without adjoining fences, in lush pastures, where we raise a flock of chickens. Officer Birgisson addresses men, who are wearing their own clothing, by their first names. We walk past decently appointed rooms featuring TVs, cellphones, and sound systems. While maintaining order, Birgisson is a professional respected by both the public and his wards.
Inside the surveillance center, two officers look at security screens. One swivels toward us, laughs and points to a caricature of Donald Trump taped to the wall. From this perch, we see the whole of the prison grounds…..pastures, gardens, and grazing horses that the men take care of. I ask “what about escape?”. Birgisson says, “they don’t try often’ but when they do, we talk and ask what made them leave.”. We offer a pained laugh. Birgisson asks “what’s funny?”. Nordic prisons are simply not what Americans can understand. We asked what incarcerated Icelanders earn inside. Birgisson replies, “the same as the outside, of course.”
Sheer scale is the first factor that separates American and Nordic prisons. Rikers Island held over three times the prison population of Sweden. All incarcerated Danes would fit in San Quentin. The state of Kansas confines more people than ALL 5 NORDIC COUNTRIES COMBINED.
Police and prison officers are much better educated than in America. Judges are not elected so they don’t make decisions to please the voting public. A Nordic prosecutor is more like a social worker, they try to determine what is in the best interests of all concerned. I think Officer Birgisson summed it up, “Why do Americans equate pain with justice?”
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