Troy recently sent us a letter with grievances about cell cleaning practices. He provided me with an account of the outdoor shower/professional cleaning incident this past Saturday as well. Troy believes SRJ will tell the media that they are following all protocol by doing this professional cleaning service, but he believes he could have cleaned the pod much better himself (and wishes he had the chance). He says deputies took all inmates’ property from their cells but did not sanitize or wash any of this property – they just let it sit in bags for 24 hours. After staff took their property, Troy and about 25 other inmates were put in the multipurpose room (Troy estimates this room to measure 20 feet by 20 feet) to wait before they could use the trailer showers. While in this room, inmates received masks that seemed better than the disposable ones they usually get (these had a metal strip at the top of the nose to shape the mask). However, before they entered the showers, they had to return these masks. After the showers, inmates remained in the yard and all played basketball together (not following social distancing guidelines). He estimates that the yard is about 40 feet by 22 feet, and he also saw all of E and F pod out there together at one point (at least 60 people).
Neither the day room nor the showers appeared to have been cleaned at all. In fact, he notes that the showers have not been cleaned in about a week. Troy has not seen hand wipes, masks or soap passed out in two weeks (other than what they received for the outdoor showers).
Troy was told he was to receive new clothes after the shower, but he notes that the clothes he was given smelled musty and stale, as if they had been sitting in storage for a long time. They also had stains, holes, and were worn out. When Troy returned to his housing unit, the cells smelled faintly of chlorine, but he noticed that the cleaners had only sprayed his bunk, the floors, and the toilet seat. He could tell they only sprayed these items and didn’t wipe them down because they had visible run marks from the sanitizing liquid on them. The tables still had the same dust on them, and when Troy rubbed his finger on the window to see if it was cleaned, lots of dirt and dust came off. Neither the day room nor the showers appeared to have been cleaned at all. In fact, he notes that the showers have not been cleaned in about a week. Troy has not seen hand wipes, masks or soap passed out in two weeks (other than what they received for the outdoor showers). Deputies passed out soap yesterday to the top tier of 6D, but the bottom tier has yet to receive any. However, since Troy submitted a grievance regarding not receiving enough soap, so a sergeant came by to give Troy his grievance response and a personal bar of soap – but he did not give soap to anyone else. Yesterday, during pod time, deputies announced that it was cell cleaning time, but they didn’t pass out supplies. They have not passed out supplies today yet either. There was one deputy who would come around and spray the toilets and sinks with bleach, but this deputy hasn’t been around in a while. He just sprays these items and the inmates have to wipe them with their own towels or cloth. There was a deputy who wasn’t wearing his mask yesterday, even though deputies have the good masks that are more secure on their faces. Troy notes that inmates receive the disposable masks that rip, and he can always feel the air seeping in through the sides of these masks when he breaths. He notes that despite hearing that someone in C pod has COVID-19, all of C pod still does their pod time together.