I’ve been here 7 months and I’ve been keeping a journal about the conditions here. I was taken off of my medication, and as a result had back to back seizures and split my head open. There was a deputy right there when it happened, but none of the staff are trained to handle seizures, even though a lot of people here have seizures. My head was stapled shut because they didn’t know they could use disposable stitches instead, and it was really painful to get them out. I asked repeatedly for a CAT scan or MRI, especially as my seizures have been happening more frequently since the first incident, but I was repeatedly denied medical care and the stronger seizure medication I needed. Eventually I got the stronger medication after filing several grievances, but I’m still not getting medical care to help me figure out what is causing the seizures. Any time I mention the seizures to medical staff at the jail, they ignore it. I’m scared. My father has a brain tumor and I feel like this could be anything.
There’s one nurse who never washes her hands or wears gloves when she comes to give insulin shots. There was always blood on her hands and the insulin needles when she came to treat me. The girl who got insulin shots before me would run from the nurse, and blood would get on the nurse’s hands and onto the needle. So I started refusing to let her give me shots and had to ask them to switch the order. The same nurse was one of the first staff members reported to be infected with COVID.
I asked repeatedly for a CAT scan or MRI, especially as my seizures have been happening more frequently since the first incident, but I was repeatedly denied medical care and the stronger seizure medication I needed. Eventually I got the stronger medication after filing several grievances, but I’m still not getting medical care to help me figure out what is causing the seizures. Any time I mention the seizures to medical staff at the jail, they ignore it. I’m scared. My father has a brain tumor and I feel like this could be anything.
Thirty officers had a party together without wearing masks and almost all of them got COVID from the party. Then they spread it to the people locked up here because they’re not wearing masks, and a lot of them are wearing used bananas or cloths instead of masks.
The pod next to us is yellow tagged, but we’re often put in the same spaces. Officers are always going between units 24 and 23, but one of the pods has a yellow sticker and others do not. Deputies need to be changing gloves more frequently, especially because they’re moving between quarantined and unquarantined units.
The jail is also not quarantining inmates properly. They’re putting coughing and infected people two feet away from everyone else. A few weeks ago, 4 new people came into our pod without being quarantined or tested before they were put in my pod. They tested positive for covid and staff took all 4 of them out, but our whole unit was quarantined and couldn’t go to the kitchen to work.
There are infestations of mice, ants, gnats, and cockroaches here. The mice infestation is such a problem that there are piles of feces and urine under people’s beds. The staff refuse to help when we press the button and tell us to catch it ourselves. I asked the CDC guy who was here for help with the infestation, but Deputy Stinson came over and told him I was lying, and that there was an exterminator. The exterminator never came. Deputy Stinson has been harassing me since I talked to the CDC guy, and I’m afraid that she’ll retaliate against me.
I asked the CDC guy who was here for help with the infestation, but Deputy Stinson came over and told him I was lying, and that there was an exterminator. The exterminator never came. Deputy Stinson has been harassing me since I talked to the CDC guy, and I’m afraid that she’ll retaliate against me.
The carpets and tables are never cleaned. There is pee on the floors. There’s no staff in charge of handling urine, blood, or feces even though at other jails there was a janitor who had to do that instead of prisoners. The shower is flooded with sewage right now, and it’s full of feces and toilet paper. It’s been like this for several weeks, and we all work in the kitchen. We’re not getting gloves to clean, and we haven’t had any sanitizing solution for 3-4 weeks. People make brooms out of newspapers.
They don’t use detergent to wash our clothes, only salt and water. We’re supposed to get 2 clothing exchanges a week and have 2 pairs of clothes at all times, but everyone only gets 1 shirt and 1 pair of pants, from 1 week up to several weeks. One person had to wear the same set of clothes for 4 weeks when she first arrived.
You’re only issued one cloth mask for all your time here, and you have to wash your mask yourself with your own shampoo or a bar of soap. You have to buy your own soap, too. We had to wash our hands with shampoo from commissary until May, when they gave us soap for the first time. Then they raided our rooms and took the soap away. The kitchen is the only place where we receive new masks. We’re not allowed to get them in the unit. They gave us masks once a week in our unit for 3-4 weeks, but they gave up on that.
The shower is flooded with sewage right now, and it’s full of feces and toilet paper. It’s been like this for several weeks, and we all work in the kitchen. We’re not getting gloves to clean, and we haven’t had any sanitizing solution for 3-4 weeks. People make brooms out of newspapers.
The bathroom in the kitchen is often flooded out. If we want the kitchen to be clean, we have to do most of the cleaning ourselves. Trays are not washed properly and the men are receiving unsanitary meals. There are roaches and bird feathers in the food. They serve mostly beans, 5 days a week. Some deputies give seconds if people ask for them, but Deputy Stinson eats the food and takes it home. One tray is tiny, with 2 ounces of protein and 2 teaspoons of vegetables in each portion. It’s not enough to eat, and half of it is disgusting. There are barely any vegetables, and if there are it’s coleslaw that’s gone bad, or potatoes gone black from rotting. I can’t eat soy, but everything contains soy, so I can’t eat a lot of the food here. And they’re taking milk away from most people’s meals, but the meals don’t contain much protein outside of that. My pod only got milk today because we worked in the kitchen last night.
Many of the deputies come in and out at night. It feels unsafe. Deputy Burbank harassed and mocked many women that she specifically targeted. She would come to people’s rooms in the middle of the night and just stare at them. I filed a grievance against her because she touched my shoulder and massaged it while I was asleep. She beat the mattress next to my stomach with a flashlight, yelled at me, and kept coming in and staring at me for 3 minutes at a time. Other deputies tried to cover up her behavior and make excuses. But too many people filed grievances against her, so she doesn’t work here anymore.
Many of the deputies come in and out at night. It feels unsafe. Deputy Burbank harassed and mocked many women that she specifically targeted. She would come to people’s rooms in the middle of the night and just stare at them. I filed a grievance against her because she touched my shoulder and massaged it while I was asleep.
Four deputies for 14 girls is too many. They are way overfunded. When a deputy is on overtime, she sits in a closet and refuses to help, saying, “I’m on overtime right now, don’t talk to me.” The deputies also gossip a lot about us. There was a girl twice my age who attacked me in my bed. I was talking about it to Deputy Stinson in my hallway when another deputy passed by and heard what was happening. He laughed and said “Who won?” It’s just gladiatorship to them.
We just want help with COVID so we don’t die. They’re carelessly and recklessly exposing us to COVID because they want to be out partying without masks on and coming to work, not washing their hands and not changing gloves. It’s life-threatening and it’s not okay. It’s like attempted murder. It’s not okay. It’s such a fraud to increase their budget when CA is so in debt right now. They’re defrauding the public because they don’t need 4 officers for 13 girls when we’re minimum security. They don’t need overtime and they don’t work on overtime, it’s just extra money for them. And they can definitely pay for an exterminator.