Nothing works…not even one.

FOOD: Aramark was supposed to be the first thing that really changed for the good in the last 16 years, but alas, that too broke after only 3 weeks. While the Aramark supervisors were here, the prison food made a tremendous improvement and inmates actually had good nutrition. Three weeks later, the Aramark crew flew back east again, and left the food in the hands of the Trinity “retreads”. Same bad habits, different colored shirt. Inmate kitchen workers claim they’ve observed old Trinity workers eating the Aramark food themselves, and taking it home, i.e. chicken breasts, cheese.

Inmate eyewitnesses allege the Aramark recipe/measurement manual is not followed anymore, and menus are whatever the workers slap together. Gravy, syrup and cheese sauce are all ” watered down”. Potato menu items listed as: Hash browns, Lyonnaise, Cajun, and French fries, are ALL the same dehydrated, sliced small frisbee’s. Every meal, no matter what name they call them, the potatoes are undercooked, white, cardboard circles, with no seasonings at all…and served cold. “State Issue” measuring spoons only half filled. (As reported in separate article, the men served out of the same kitchen are given full state issue, temped properly, and adhering to the menu.)

We have 2 printed menus from Aramark, one for Medium/Max custody (Lumley, Cruz) and one labeled Minimum custody (San Carlos). They are identical except Lumley/Cruz, on their Tuesday sack lunch, has 2 additional items….string cheese and saltine crackers! We’ve always been told it was a privilege to be minimum custody, but Med/Max gets more food. Trinity, at least had “restaurant” meals you could buy for a small mortgage each Saturday. It was something to look forward to in the inmate’s pitiful lives. Aramark promised the same thing….but now say it will be about a YEAR until it’s implemented!

We’d like to congratulate the salesman that talked Director Thornell into Aramark.

The other side of the food coin is the commissary store. Keefe/Trinity merged into one company, but in Perryville, Trinity had the kitchen contract and Keefe had the store. Aramark may have recently acquired the kitchen, but the same corporation kept the contract on the store. Inmates have grieved the constant price increases that have far outpaced inflation at the commissary.

Prisoners have had the same 10¢ starting wage since 1973, with the legislature denying any raises. That bag of chicken meat that used to cost .48 cents now costs $3.77. Keefe has not kept essentials in stock, like a comb or brush, it has not been “available” for over a year. No mayo in four months….forget making a simple tuna sandwich. Eating, in the Arizona prison system sucks!

WATER: Government water agencies and news outlets, have kept the public apprised of the toxic contamination seeping into the ground water from Luke Air Force base over the years. Perryville knew about it. Why do you think they advised all their staff NOT to drink the tap water at the prison? Visitors to Perryville were greeted with signs, “Do not drink the water.” But then the visitors predictably asked the prison, “If the water is not good enough for me or your staff, why are you making my daughter drink it?”

California prisons give their residents free bottled water. Arizona makes them buy it at the commissary for $1.37 a piece. Perryville gals have a less expensive workaround. The 7lb bagged ice they can buy on the store for $2.05, is made out of purified water. They melt the ice, and fill their empty soda bottles with pure water for pennies on the dollar. It beats drinking carcinogens your entire sentence.

COMPUTERS: Are run by Securus, and it is broken. The Medical app has had nonstop problems since its inception. Recently, when an inmate pulls the pharmacy tab for a refill on her prescription, instead of going to the pharmacy department, the request goes to Medical and she’s put on Nurses line! Carlos has 1300 people and most take some kind of medication. In that tiny medical lobby, no bigger than a phone booth, now crams half the population waiting for a simple refill. It’s madness.

The Communication app on the tablet rarely communicates anything. Emails to staff go unanswered. They tried doing grievances on it, but Securus can’t seem to set it up correctly. Inmates stopped using it because it doesn’t work! COIII’s tear their hair out trying to get their inmate client load released on time due to “computer errors”.

The tablets themselves are made in China (there’s a clue) and they break all the time. A year ago new inmates received a tablet right away. Now, due to a labor problem in China (?) inmates wait a month. For current residents whose tablet dies, they are put on a waiting list that might take 2 months.

HEALTH (Naphcare): The perpetually broken, for-profit, No Care Naphcare, has been written about extensively. Space for this article does not allow for a reiteration of hundreds of those horror stories. Instead, we will offer the latest update on the cost savings measures taken by this company to insure greater profits for its stockholders, which put the inmate’s lives in critical danger. Reportedly, cancer patients are not being taken to their Oncologists, treatments are not started on time, follow-up appointments are not scheduled, and outright refusals of pain relief are alleged.

There are only THREE schedulers employed at Perryville…… for the whole population!! How can they possibly get outside appointments for mammograms, MRI’s, pre surgery scans of all types, specialists for eyes, ENT, orthopedic, GYN, Endocrinologist, and all others in a timely manner?

They are short-staffed transport guards….how do the patients even get to these appointments? This is how these major healthcare insurance companies make money….they delay, delay, treatment until the patient is so acute she needs emergency care. So, many develop diseases that are easily curable in the early stages, but become a death sentence because of deliberate indifference.

INFRASTRUCTURE: Beyond broken. Media has shed a light on some of the crooked and downright ILLEGAL misappropriation of funds dealing with maintenance. The most recent exposé was by Channel 12 regarding the money spent on air conditioning units, that never made it to cool the inmates. Some units were installed for the comfort of the staff, some cannibalized for parts, most never accounted for, but that money went into someone’s pocket.

Structures on 2 man cell units left to rot, until the stairway on Pedro collapsed. Santa Maria and Pedro not able to pass code inspections and shut down. This led to the severe overcrowding seen on the Units left that are functional. Will Pie/Rosa and Carlos fall down like the 2 man cell units?

Reports indicate a recent uptick in GAS LEAK calls to the Fire Department, and inmates told to evacuate their bays because of gas smells. Residents complain in Town Hall meetings about mold in the showers, backed-up sewage odor permeating the bays, and washer/dryers that cease to work.

A casual inspection of the buildings show deteriorating foundations. Where does that maintenance money go?

Conclusion: As long as the American style of criminal justice reigns supreme, Perryville prison, will continue to be broken. Unfortunately, the women inside the prison will be irrevocably broken too. A casualty of a red state that puts the Almighty Buck ahead of any meaningful rehabilitation, or healing from substance abuse. Arizona does not care about its most vulnerable citizens, it only cares about making money for the vast penal industrial complex. Multi-billion dollar companies exist off the pain and suffering of others. They make huge profits from incarcerating the mentally ill and homeless. Governor Hobbs and Director Thornell fell right in line. They are a vast disappointment.