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.
Short Staffing Horrors
Dateline San Carlos:
(letters) SQ said, “Last Saturday night at 8:30 pm I passed out and hit the floor. The only available officers were the Sgt in Control and one other bay guard. They admitted they were severely short-staffed, but one officer was required to stay with the patient until medical arrived, so I was pushed to the Yard Office to wait for nurses from Complex to arrive at Carlos.
Nighttime in Perryville is perilous because the only medical staff are at Complex….no staff at the Units.
I’m 67 years old with a balance problem like many women my age, and I’m terrified of getting up in the middle of the night to use the restroom. Last night I felt myself lose consciousness and slide to the cement in the ADA bathroom stall. When I woke up an hour later I was still there as no officer found me.
What if I would have had a heart emergency like my friend Ericka? We are in the same Bay, and last Thursday her heart started severe fibrillation at 9:30 pm. Ericka’s neighbor, Angel, saw her distress and ran to find help. No officer in C bay, she ran to D bay, no officer there, she pounded on Yard office door, but no response, Angel ran the length of San Carlos to finally find two guards taking a smoke break by the vehicle gate! Ericka was given aid, but as of this letter I don’t know her condition.
Does Judge Silver read your blog? Can she help us? No one else is.”
Arizona’s Prison Population has Increased 500% in the Last 40 Years
What do we taxpayers have to show for this dismal increase in felons? Certainly not the recidivism rate, which is 36.3% within 3 years. A COIII that was interviewed in 2019 said if you go out to 10 years, the recidivism is an astounding 90%!
We pay 1.6 BILLION dollars to the AZDOC, with nothing to show for it but bigger profits for the corporations that prey on the prison system. Arizona invests more in punishment than job skill training or substance abuse counseling.
During Ducey’s administration, private prisons increased exponentially. These for-profit businesses make money from keeping people locked up, not creating constructive members of society. The previous administration tried the “one size fits all” approach to job skills. Because they’re so cheap, they don’t want to invest in job skills for women…..only men.
Let no one say that there are not some women that have made job opportunities as auto mechanics or electrical workers, but they are in the minority. Most of the women gravitate toward Culinary Arts and Cosmology. California’s DOC reduced their recidivism for women significantly by introducing these programs for the ladies. Conversely, the men enjoyed learning to be a barber or chef.
Arizona should invest in job skill training so the formerly incarcerated can become successful in our economy.
Coming Attractions
(My webmaster was on a well-deserved holiday. Now that she is back the Editor can announce this website’s next big story. We are covering the ELDERLY in prison. I’m going to call it “The cAGEing of Women in Perryville”. This is a sneak peak of two stories that will be featured.)
MJ reported numbness and tingling in both hands, feet, and abdomen. She was struggling to even write. After a very long time MJ finally got an off site appointment for an MRI. The cervical MRI found a lesion on her spinal cord suggestive of neoplastic etiology. On July 17, 2022 the Provider requested a neurological consult . This consult was not scheduled until a month later. Eventually, on September 1, 2022, a consult was scheduled for Barrow on February 14, 2023, seven months after the first request. This appointment never occurred because Barrow left a message that it would not take Naphcare as insurance provider. Trying to find another facility to take an inmate was problematic. At last, Western Neuro in Tucson agreed to take her as a patient. Western Neuro received a message from Naphcare that the status on this patient was ” Corporate MD pending “, meaning Naphcare had not authorized the payment. So MJ continues to deteriorate, requiring a wheelchair, she can’t stand and is incontinent.
MM has metastatic breast cancer that includes lymph nodes and her left leg. Before her MRI diagnosis of cancer, she struggled to get the San Carlos medical department to listen to her symptoms. After repeated ICS’s (emergency), the nurses told her to ” knock it off or she would get a ticket”. This woman could not walk and she was in constant, severe pain. The Provider Johnson diagnosed her with arthritis and gave her muscle rub for pain. He denied her a lay in for meals, no wheelchair, or pain meds. Eventually, she was granted an off site appointment which was cancelled. The 2nd appointment she had to borrow someone else’s wheelchair to make it to the V-gate. Even after her MRI diagnosis of cancer on 3-9-23, which was labeled SERIOUS and EMERGENCY, she has had zero care for cancer.
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