Family upset over jail secrecy

Can’t get answers on injuries to inmate

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

After 20-year-old Keyshawn Givens was beaten so severely in the Allegheny County Jail that he was sent to a hospital on July 25, jail officials decided not to tell his family about the incident.

No one from the jail alerted the inmate’s listed emergency contact, jail Deputy John Williams said in a statement this week, because officials determined the injuries were not serious or life-threatening, and because of security concerns.

Ten days later, Melissa Givens knows more about her brother’s condition from the rumor mill than she does from officials, who remain mum despite the family’s repeated calls and attempts to visit the jail.

“Nobody called, nobody updated me — still, nobody,” Melissa Givens said this week. “The streets know more than me. They’re saying his jaw was broke and he might be stabbed, but [officials aren’t] considering it an emergency?”

Deputy Williams would not comment on Mr. Givens’ medical condition, citing privacy laws and security, but people familiar with the matter describe a brutal attack in which Mr. Givens’ face was severely injured.

Jail staff and medical personnel typically work together to decide whether an inmate’s injury is serious enough to warrant a family notification, Deputy Williams said.

“Many of the determinations at the jail are subjective, as they take into consideration the opinions of personnel and their perceptions and recommendations based on their professional backgrounds,” he said.

He declined to explain how notifying Mr. Givens’ family about the assault could have compromised the inmate’s security or safety.

But advocates across the state said the jail’s decision not to tell Mr. Givens’ family about the assault is concerning for a variety of reasons, from the classification of the injury as non-serious to the lack of transparency about the altercation itself.

“If you’re hospitalized, it’s serious,” said Angus Love, executive director of the Pennsylvania Institutional Law Project, a non-profit that assists