TagDeputies

prisoner on special diet misses 22 meals in one month because trays don’t match dietary needs, portions are inadequate even in correct trays, loses 25 lbs. in 4 months

In June, I missed 22 meals. In July, I missed 14 meals. Despite me submitting that grievance regarding missed meals back in mid-March 2020, the jail still often does not provide me with my meals, and does not provide me with replacement gluten free meals when my meal is missing.

prisoner finds rodent feces in food, grievance is marked resolved after he is offered a new tray; is then afraid to eat jail food and loses 10 lbs.

After the incident, I was afraid to eat the food, particularly since the guards and the sergeant didn’t seem to care. It is not just about getting a new lunch, because any meal, or every meal could have feces in it. It just happened that I caught it that one time, so getting a new lunch does not change the fact that the kitchen has mice.

prisoner logs food portion and quality; finds food consistently spoiled, falls short of both portion size and items on menu, disgusting and inedible, food trays filthy, loses 70 lbs. in 8 months as a result

Around January or February of 2020, when Aramark started changing the menu, reducing the food portions more, and leaving out more of the meal elements, and I started losing weight. I have lost almost 70 pounds between January and August 2020 (eight months). In August 2020, I weighed 180 pounds, which I haven’t weighed since I was 16 years old.

prisoner describes food contamination, overcooking to the point of being inedible, other examples of poor food quality

When the trays aren’t cleaned properly, the food remnants that stick to the trays just keep getting cooked into the plastic of the trays more and more. When there are food remnants on the bottom or sides of the trays, this means my food is contaminated, which feels unsanitary and not safe to eat.

kitchen worker describes food consistently spoiled by lack of refrigeration, food cooked with maggots in it, rats in freezer

The food at Santa Rita Jail is frequently spoiled and inedible. On the week of October 5, 2020, when I was still in HU 22, beans were served with maggots in them. The maggots were cooked with the beans. When we told the deputy, his response is “this is all you get”, “eat it or throw it away”.

kitchen worker describes feces, rats, cockroaches, birds in kitchen; aramark refuses to adequately address poor food quality and unsanitary conditions

I have found rat poop on top of the meal trays that are going out to the housing units. When I brought this issue up with Margarita, she picked off the rat poop with her bare hands and threw it away.... I reported this to a kitchen deputy and asked for the trays to be remade. We have to fight to get Aramark to throw away food that is not fit to serve. Rather than make all new trays, they try to...

prisoner being retaliated against for filing grievances; calls for third-party surprise visits to jail

Sheriff Ahern and his deputies have a blatant disregard for taxpayers money. From sexual harassment to deputies giving each other massages on the taxpayers dime, and lots more in between, including being locked outside in the yard, and past dinner, and then having to beg for food. It's time for this jail to have a more serious audit than the current one. There needs to be an unbiased third-party...

jail lying about amount of testing and not testing correctly leading to inaccurate results; only in compliance during inspections; retaliating against whistle-blowers

The most important thing is for them to know is that the jail is lying to people about how much they are testing. They are not offering the test to everyone. Since March 2020 they have not offered the test to every inmate, so not every inmate has been tested. They are not getting accurate results. They are not doing the procedures the right way.

prisoner describes consistent lack of masks, and is denied release despite high health risk and no violent past convictions

The inmate grievance response is “....Santa Rita can’t just let you out, you must be released through the courts.” So I asked my Public Defender regarding said issue, and she said the courts are not going to give me a 5-month-early release but she did state: Santa Rita Jail could give me an early release without a court order.

jail lying about conditions and covid-19 cases, dangerous medical neglect, abuse by deputies, disgusting sanitary conditions: “Every human life here is based on a dollar”

Every human life here is based on a dollar. It doesn't matter if you're spending money on this GTL network or buying these overpriced canteen items. People are being denied the full medical treatment they need. Please share this information with the news and anyone you can. The jail is providing false information to the media. The more people whose eyes are opened to conditions like this the...

roaches, bird droppings, and mice in food among other unsanitary conditions; prisoners forced to clean for inspections and face retaliation and abuse from deputies for speaking out

During inspections, they make the “podworkers” slave day in day out to cover up all the seen dirt-filled areas, waxing floors and door knobs.....Sergeants come in housing units angry, demanding all sorts of cleaning done to the entire housing unit overnight, and the deputies put their slave pod workers to work fast! Cleaning inside and even outside in 100-degree weather heat. Cleaning to injury...

prisoner describes medical neglect and denial of testing for people with covid-19 symptoms, torturous conditions of infirmary and other abuses

Everyone in the hole had COVID-19. We know we did, even though we were all denied tests. They brought someone to the hole one day, and then took him back to his pod later that same day. But having come to that area where everyone else was infected, he was obviously exposed. Two days later, he was returned to the hole, showing symptoms of COVID-19. Who knows who else he may have spread it to.

deputy rocha “prancing around the entire jail, with no PPE or any precautions, and was exposing the entire jail all while denying he was sick”

They act like we are animals. We are all losing our minds crammed in our tiny cells for 23 hours a day, as if they are cages. We have only one hour a day that we can leave. The rest of the time we are stuck. It is torture. Now with COVID-19 on top of everything, we are being given death sentences. All this, without even being proven guilty.

prisoner describes harassment from deputies, denial of seizure medication, rotting food, feces in shower, mice and roaches, reckless exposure to covid

We just want help with COVID so we don't die. They're carelessly and recklessly exposing us to COVID .... 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.

prisoner statement for july 20 press conference

Inmates are people too, and we are innocent until proven guilty. Are inmates not citizens and taxpayers too? Do seven people have to die before you decide to do something about it? Do people have to loot stores before you decide to do your job? Do they want the same thing that happened in San Quentin to happen here? Will they wait for the numbers to get higher before taking action?

prisoner repeatedly harassed by deputy; reports denial of testing, inappropriate use of strip searches, solitary confinement, and other abuses

The public should know that inmates inside are suffering from our lack of medical help, dental care, food, yard time—we get yard two times a week to see daylight, only 4 hours at best. They should know that there are unsanitary conditions and a lot of police misconduct.

Learn how you can take action to demand more releases from Santa Rita to protect the health and safety of our community

Categories

Tags