New jail oversight board tackles ODs, suicide
MEDIA » The Delaware County Jail Oversight Board began to consider measures in response to a multiple overdose incident that ended in a fatality and an inmate suicide last month.
On Dec. 25, five female inmates overdosed at the George W. Hill Correctional Facility after the teenage son of an inmate smuggled the drugs into the prison during a visit earlier that day. All were administered Narcan and one had to be revived by CPR. All were taken to local hospitals, where one woman died five days later. In a separate incident the same day, a male inmate committed suicide and was discovered by a correctional officer doing a unit tour at 12:22 a.m.
Among the board’s considerations is a non-contact visitation room, either using video technology or glass panes and telephones. It also considered various measures while establishing several subcommittees from board notification protocol to launching independent investigations to expanding drug treatment for inmates.
“What I would really like to have as a member of the board is a sense of what we do next,” board chairman and county Councilman Kevin Madden said. “With an issue like this, what resources does the Jail Oversight Board have to put in our disposal to investigate what occurred independently of GEO ... I don’t want to just ask GEO, ‘Hey, what happened?’ and let them tell us what they view to be the case. This needs to be an investigation driven independently of GEO.”
Board member and Delaware County Court of Common Pleas Judge John J. Whelan confirmed that the county’s Criminal Investigative Division responded to the incident and is involved in an investigation.
The county owns and oversees the 1,883-prisoner Concord facility and the private company GEO
Group Inc. has a contract to operate it.
Acting Warden Donna Mellon reported that the male inmate who committed suicide was sent to the prison on Dec. 3 on a probation violation warrant. She said he was unsentenced and was housed under no special conditions and was alone at the time of his death.
She added that he did have a psychiatric diagnosis and had been prescribed medication by the prison psychiatrist on Dec. 6.
“Actually, his case manager did the initial interview with him and took him down to medical because he was concerned with some of the statements that he was making,” Mellon said. “He had a follow-up appointment on Dec. 13 with medical. He was not seen.”
Board member Brian Corson said he had asked a multitude of questions about the inmate on
Dec. 26 and Tuesday was the first time he was receiving any answers.
“I think it’s completely inadequate that 19 days later that we’re discussing this and it’s inadequate for the individual who lost his life,” he said. “It’s inadequate for his family and it’s inadequate for the residents of Delaware County.”
Mellon said she was notified of the suicide at 2 a.m. and she was there a half-hour later. She said she was there for three hours looking at the inmate’s commitment file and medical file among others. Shen then notified county Administrative Officer and board member Marianne Grace.
“I’m not sure if I’m supposed to be giving out all this information considering it’s still under investigation but I did the best I could,” she said.
One thing the board began to discuss was creating a non-contact visitation room, rather than the cafeteria style room with 63 tables that exists now. Options discussed included videoconferencing and glass panels with telephones.
“Chester County just converted their visitation to non-contact last year,” Mellon said. “They said their contraband use has gone down by 95 percent.”
While board member Jonathan King said considering the circumstances, it makes sense, he noted that drugs can get into prison in other ways as well from new commitments to employees.
“I think we should look at all the options when it comes to bringing drugs inside the prison,” he said.
Madden also noted issues in staffing, for which the county was credited $703,398.75 in understaffing penalties last year, due to not meeting contractual staffing requirements.
“Staffing really is at the top of the list in ways in which this board needs to be ensuring that we are getting everything we can from GEO,” he said. “While 94 percent may be better than it was earlier in the year when I think it was at 90 percent, it’s still not
100 percent.”
He also said changes to the $14 an hour wage should be changed as GEO employee and facility Administrator David Byrne said it was lower than surrounding counties, with Chester County correctional officers receiving
$17 an hour.
Upper Providence resident Nannette Whitsett voiced her concerns.
“I am not for prison profiting from people because unfortunately, it is disproportionately brown and black youth and lower income that are filling these beds,” she said.
Regarding the tragic incidents, she added, “It’s our fault. It’s the fault of this prison. It’s the fact that you’re not paying your staff and you’re profiting from beds.”
She said mandatory overtime should be eliminated and diversity, mental health and other training should be given to staff.
“I know from people working there on the inside, when they had that overdose, they didn’t know what to do,” Whitsett said. “They were running around like rats. They didn’t know what to do. Nobody had trained them what to do. That’s sad.”
Middletown resident and wife of Court of Common Pleas Judge Rick Lowe, Margie McAboy, said just having these difficult discussions and beginning to seek solutions is a change from the previous board that oversaw the prison.
“I am so moved having attended virtually every meeting for the last two years of the prison board prior to this,” she said. “What you’ve done today is nothing short of remarkable ... It’s just a breath of fresh air and so welcome.”