Handwritten letters describe the fears and frustrations of those imprisoned in Arizona prisons.
They witness the chaos of the pandemic, one mobile block at a time.
“I think if you’re sentenced to the Arizona Department of Corrections right now, sentenced to COVID-19,” an inmate wrote on August 31 inside Tucson Jail.
The letters ask for an explanation about COVID-19 for themselves and for all people connected to the criminal system.
“Inmates, family, friends and officials need to know the truth,” an inmate wrote at Florence’s facility in April.
Prison officials and inmates shared their concerns.
“He said that’s what it was, that they too were exposed!” wrote an internal inmate of the Lewis Institution on September 5 about his verbal exchange with a DOC employee.
From March through September, the Republic of Arizona won nearly 90 letters from inmates claiming that the Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Rehabilitation did not protect staff and inmates as the COVID-19 epidemic continued.
Some detainees requested it by writing an organizational message, while others provided graphic main points in non-public stories about survival with the virus.
Several inmates asked Governor Doug Ducey to act. David Shinn, director of the correctional department, was not doing enough, they said.
“We believe our governor Ducey has no idea what’s really going on,” wrote an inmate serving a six-year sentence at The Eyman Institution in Florence in April.
This year, 2,577 inmates tested positive for coronavirus in Arizona prisons, and 15 of them died Thursday, according to the department. Thursday’s daily population is 38,865.
Thirteen other possible deaths were caused by the virus, according to county coroners. The branch only confirms deaths if the initial clinical conclusion was made through a hospital or state medical provider.
In August, more than 500 inmates living in the same unit in Tucson prison tested the virus.
The branch said Thursday that it had 700 self-reported cases among staff.
The letters state that inmates do obtain essential elements such as soap, cleaning products and mask and that the usual spaces are cleaned.
Inmates at several correctional facilities have made statements, and have accused the branch of not taking action until workers at the branch’s food contractor test positive.
The inmates argued that the branch and its fitness service provider did not register inmates with physical fitness issues for COVID-19 and did not treat those with severe fitness issues.
“Heaven is helping inmates who expand a more serious medical challenge while incarcerated,” eyman’s internal criminal inmate wrote on May 4.
“If this is the case, the first step the fitness office takes is to ignore, hide or deny that it exists. “
Arizona prisons are used to providing insufficient fitness care to inmates. The state remains under federal court for not complying with a 2014 elegance action agreement on health and dental standards.
Inmates also claim that prison officials did not receive face masks, were not screened for symptoms, and had to monitor larger spaces due to staff shortages.
An organization of la Paz Yuma’s criminal unit criticized the lack of coverage for inmates and staff.
“This is not very unethical and irresponsible about AZDOC, but it is unconstitutional and harmful to the public and prisoners,” the detainees wrote in April.
Ducey responded to a request for comment.
A spokesman for the Department of Corrections referred to the fitness and protection protocols announced during the pandemic and denied the allegations through inmates.
“Every day, all workers entering Arizona’s criminal complexes continue to go through temperature and symptom checks at each and every facility,” Judy Keane said.
“ADCRR continues to talk to inmates about how to reduce the threat of contracting or propagating COVID-19. “
Allegations that inmates in poor health have not been evaluated are not true, Keane said.
“ADCRR has a contract and ongoing oversight of network criteria for health care,” he said.
The spokesman did respond to any express complaints from the detainees.
At the beginning of the pandemic, the branch delayed scheduled admissions and suspended off-site visits and paint systems to verify and prevent the virus from entering prisons.
Lawyers are under pressure that the virus can still spread through the criminal body of workers in their communities.
Cases were reported in Maricopa, Pima and Pinal counties through March 18, and a few days later the branch announced that six inmates were being tested for the virus.
In June, the Arizona Department of Health Services announced plans to review all inmates for the disease. The Correctional Service ordered the use of masks in June and said they were checking workers’ bodies for COVID-19 antibodies. In July, the branch said all detainees had a mask.
Here are other stories of inmates who wrote to The Republic. Their names are used because of their unusual fear of reprisals.
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An inmate newly arrived at Safford Prison wrote about his considerations about the admission and admission process.
In his July letter, he highlighted how an inmate with symptoms continues to be transported with an organization to prison.
On Thursday, the branch reported 11 inmates tested positive in Safford’s criminal population for the pandemic. According to the branch, 1,440 inmates at Safford Prison tested negative.
The inmate who wrote the letter violated his parole situations in May, was arrested and entered the Phoenix-Phoenix State Prison Center, remained in the Alhambra Reception Unit and claims there were seven other people in his cell.
On Thursday, the Phoenix facility had 299 cases of 2,651 prisoners examined.
He saw medical staff within 24 hours, put him in solitary confinement and stayed on a mobile phone for five days before he could just take a shower. other inmates.
On 29 May he was transferred to the Safford facility, warned through medical personnel and questioned the symptoms of COVID-19, the detainee stated that one of the people transported with him had complained of symptoms.
“We were all given a mask at the time, they took us to the unit where six (6) of us underwent the COVID-19 test,” the intern wrote.
He and the prisoners were placed in solitary confinement and only one prisoner at the time tested positive.
A few days later, he began to revel in symptoms: fever, cough, pain and discomfort. He and four inmates were screened for the virus.
He and the prisoner tested positive.
“I contracted the COVID-19 virus while in A. D. C. “For reasons I come with incompetence in the inability component to carry out or identify social estating and/or an appropriate or regulated quarantine protocol. “
Keane said the criminal population is becoming due to new admissions and releases.
“It should be noted that all incoming admissions are tested at our admissions facility as PHAC-Phoenix, where we get new commitments from inmates in county jails and where they are grouped and supervised for 14 days before being moved to their destination. “said in a statement.
The epidemic has only increased physical care disorders, according to inmates in Yuma prison.
His stories highlight the current problems still being discussed in federal court.
Several inmates told The Republic that Centurion, the prison’s fitness service provider, did not deal with chronic and life-threatening medical situations as a result of the pandemic. Inmates say they are not getting a remedy for the center’s disease, cancer and seizures.
The branch reported Thursday that 4,448 inmates had passed the pandemic test in the Yuma penal, the criminal had 128 positive cases and Thursday’s daily population was 4,669.
It showed that an inmate had died of COVID-19 and that another death may have been caused by the virus, according to the department.
Several internal inmates of Cibola’s unit wrote letters. In an April 16 letter, one was called “Petri’s plate. “
An inmate who had been incarcerated for 3 years said a medical worker refused to check him while showing symptoms.
“She said they weren’t testing the virus,” she wrote in her June 7 letter. “I asked her if she could get it in writing and she refused. He told me to fill out a questionnaire. “
He wrote that the medical worker had told him that “being unhealthy for a few days doesn’t mean you’re in poor health. “
In his letter, the inmate stated that a user who had been ill in the penalty for a month and had never been examined.
Several inmates in two sets of the criminal sent the same letter to the Republic with their names signed.
Inmates at Cibola’s unit wrote in May that they were sick and said more than 60 people in their unit had the virus.
“Thank God none of us have been connected to a fan,” they wrote.
Four inmates of the La Paz unit wrote that there is no social estating in the dormitories and that the branch does not review staff for COVID-19 symptoms.
According to their April 6 letters, when inmates get sick, they are quarantined but return to the general population in five to six days.
“Officers and inmates get masks or gloves,” they wrote.
An Eyman inmate described the department’s movements to involve the virus as “the bare minimum” in his May 4 letter.
Prisoners are doing what they can to prevent spread, they said.
“Detainees perceive that we are alone and that we don’t have to expect much help from the DOC,” one inmate wrote. “We have to be our own doctor, lawyer and any other professional we need, unless we have a circle of member relatives outside. “
In his letter, he explained that prison officials had to paint in more than one court due to scarcity.
According to the ministry, staffing is monitored and distributed during the day to ensure that operations are safe. Keane said the branch may move prison officials elsewhere on a given day if some groups have a higher need for staff.
An 18-year-old inmate in Eyman wrote that his unit housed others who are quarantined and have no symptoms yet and have medical situations that make them vulnerable to the virus.
In his June 20 letter, the inmate stated that he had diabetes, high blood pressure, central disease and fibrosis, he noted several dates of the pandemic, beginning in April, when medical staff did not give him his insulin, he said he was afraid. contract the virus and die.
“The housing unit used for quarantine does not have its separate ventilation to prevent the respiratory virus from spreading to other inmates living very close to the quarantine capsule,” he wrote.
According to his letter, there are mechanical disorders with the drive’s extraction fans, he indicated that the Correction Department had repaired them and that very few inmates of his unit had been examined by COVID-19.
On Thursday, there were 410 positive cases of 5317 inmates who were assessed in Eyman prison. Thursday’s daily population is 5,479.
According to the department, the cause of death of an inmate at the facility is COVID-19.
FOR THEBONNS: Maricopa County puts inmates in poor health in ”the hole”, families say
Prison inmates have written about the lack of cleaning products.
Inside Apache’s unit in Winslow Prison, inmates used shampoo to whiten their cells, according to a May letter.
An inmate serving a six-year sentence wrote in May that home cleaning products were not provided and that inmates bought shampoo to meet their needs. Soap was provided if an inmate asked for it, but only when he considered it “necessary,” he wrote.
Keane said all criminals had cleaning products and that materials were checked several times a week. He said the ministry was cleaning areas, bathrooms, living spaces and affected areas.
“An inmate can request a new bar when his existing bar runs out,” Keane said.
The detainee also asked why the ministry is not doing more to practice social estgnation and said the offender had more space to use due to ongoing renovations.
“Why don’t you use this area to practice greater social distance?” he wrote. “They don’t have enough area because of the paint. Our fitness will be more vital than their unnecessary renewals. “
Keane said day-to-day operations at Winslow were not interrupted by on-site paintings.
The branch reported Thursday that the facility had had nine positive cases out of 1,274 inmates who underwent the test. Thursday’s daily population was 1,336.
In addition to fitness problems, the pandemic has jobs for inmates and resulted in disciplinary action, according to the letters.
Before the pandemic, Ducey announced that the state would close Florence’s facility to some inmates, death row inmates and a few more in prison.
The Florence criminal has 109 positive cases of the 3249 inmates who were examined on Thursday. The daily population is 2,759. There were six inmate deaths in Florence that were shown to have been caused by COVID-19, along with 4 other deaths potentially caused by the virus.
Two inmates who wrote to The Republic were transferred from Florence’s criminal to Kingman’s criminal. The Correctional Service has contracts with six institutions.
As of Thursday, Kingman’s facility had 55 positive cases of the 2,700 inmates who were examined, with a possible death. Thursday’s daily population is 2,837.
A Kingman inmate’s personal criminal wrote that he had lost his homework due to COVID-19 and Florence’s closure.
In his letter of 26 July, he wrote that the detainees had spent 3 weeks quarantined in Florence and had been screened for the virus. When they were transferred to Kingman, he spent two weeks in quarantine.
He asked if Ducey planned to find a way for inmates to paint the pandemic. Detainees use cash to pay for must-have items or restitution.
An inmate serving a two-year sentence sent a disciplinary report that he filed against him on 24 April while in Florence.
The inmate claims that a prison official sought him out to paint in a “dangerous” area.
The officer wrote that after giving a work verbal, the inmate refused.
“I’m going to paint in this area, ” said the detainee in the report.
The officer filed the report, but rejected it through a manager the same day.
“Rejected from the COVID-19 zone,” the officer’s manager wrote.
CORONAVIRUS SPREAD: 517 inmates tested positive for COVID-19 in Tucson, nearly part of the criminal population there
Throughout the pandemic, many organizations have advocated for inmates and prison officials and discovered tactics to show them that outsiders care about their safety.
The Bridge movement for human rights has worked with prisoners, conducted rallies and vigils, communicated with detainees and approached their relatives.
Holly Woods, an organizer, said it was vital for the organization to show her because she encourages the incarcerated to keep fighting for themselves.
“A lot of the things we hear from them are that they’re depressed there,” he said. “They feel alone, they feel defeated, they feel that the formula has failed them. “
The organization provides recommendations on intellectual fitness resources and other tips on how they can themselves while in prison.
The Department of Corrections temporarily suspended visits at the beginning of the pandemic to prevent the spread of the virus, but the ministry allows inmates limited time to make phone calls or video visits.
However, replacement remains complicated for families.
Woods said video views only allowed it to be enjoyed at the same time, which can be tricky for an inmate who may have a giant circle of relatives or one who enjoys technology disorderly.
He said it is vital that those in prison are human beings.
“These other people are members of someone’s family circle, no matter what they’ve done,” Woods said.
Do you have any opinions about those imprisoned in Arizona prisons?Contact criminal justice reporter Lauren Castle at Lauren. Castle@gannett. com. Follow her on Twitter @Lauren_Castle.
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