Dear Rep. Campbell,
For the past several
years there have been calls for the prison director’s resignation which has led
to hundreds of suicides and a no confidence vote by the correctional officers’
union. It appears the director’s record of delivering sound medical / mental
health services along with a booming institutional death rate is far from being
acceptable according to national healthcare standards of care. Arizona ranks
about sixth in the nation on suicides and nobody seems to be too concerned
about this matter. In fact, Governor Brewer has praised the director several
times saying she thought he was doing a very good job and impressed with his
handling and understanding of the Arizona prison system. To this day, the
director has only admitted superficial flaws exist and that he is working on
reducing his conditions of confinement from maximum risk to changes that will
lower those risks. So far, his plan is not working very well.
It is with some certainty he is reorganizing the
healthcare services as he terminated one contractor and hired another in mid
contract due to contractual deficiencies that delayed the delivery of medical
care and sound healthcare practices inside prisons. However, he has failed to
reduce the maximum risks that are currently impacting the current rate of
deaths inside the prisons that are routinely written off as natural deaths,
suicides or homicides.
The fact remains these numbers have not been reduced to
any significant level and continue to exist while burdening the correctional
officers with the laborious tasks of maintain a status quo with less resources
and staffing than ever before inside the lockdown units. In this matter, these
correctional officers are tasked to do the impossible as there is a shortage of
staff at those critical positions that are legally and morally responsible for
sound correctional practices.
It is highly recommended the Arizona legislature conduct
an review of the whole system through independent impact statements related to
staffing deployment plans of medical/mental health staff, custodial employees
and other resources dedicated to handle treatment and programs of the high risk
offenders susceptible to committing suicides or become victims in a violent
assault or death by predatory gangs or individuals housed with the severely
mentally ill in general population and lockdown units. Many of these offenders
are unable to cope with this risk of being harmed on an open yard and are
asking for protection in the lockdowns where the suicide rate is the highest.
This oversight and interview process should focus on
conditions of confinement and the quality of care, training and communication
with special needs offenders that are dying at an alarming rate weekly. It
should also focus on leadership capabilities within the agency and the
administrative oversight of medical, mental health and other specialized needs
to ensure compliance with constitutional rights for fair treatment and quality
services.
It is suspected that there are a variety of reasons for
this deficiency, not because of people doing bad things but rather systems not
in proper working in order to accomplish better delivery of services rendered
by either the private medical contractor or custodial staff. There needs to be
better accountability for the high number of deaths and putting his hands up
and saying that is part of being incarcerated inside a penitentiary is not a
suitable response. A plan needs to be devised to ensure the numbers are reduced
and suicide intervention methods are active and working. I pray you will offer
a solution to this problem as you have researched this matter as well.
While the legislative oversight committee is researching
causes for the above mentioned concerns, it might also want to review standards
of care and practices to concerns related to AIDS / HIV, Hepatitis, MRSA, Staph
infections and other communicable disease concerns that poison the community
upon the offender’s release. It should also review the care of the elderly and
the medical costs associated with such incarceration care and review
alternatives for those eligible for early release and non-violent offenders in
crime committed and institutional adjustment history.
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