By Ernesto Arce | KPFK
Prison advocates are countering Sheriff Alex Villanueva’s narrative by arguing that conditions in LA County jails are so bad that inmates are making desperate attempts during the pandemic to get removed from the facility.
Sheriff Alex Villanueva says LA County jail inmates at the Pitchess detention center in Castaic are intentionally trying to get infected with the coronavirus.
He shared a surveillance video that he says backs his claim. He added that 21 people in that particular jail module later tested positive.
“You see that’s a hot water dispenser there,” Villanueva gave a play by play account of the footage. “It’s for ramen noodles and instant coffee. They’re gonna start passing the hot water and they’re gonna share swigs of the same bottle of water. Under normal circumstances, no one would do that. Right after the video, a nurse took their temperatures, and with the hot water they were trying to falsely elevate their temperature reading.”
Villanueva says it’s evidently clear that the prisoners were deliberately sharing water from the same bottle and later shared a face mask.
“It’s sad to think that someone would deliberately expose themselves to Covid-19,” Villanueva said. “As a result, 21 inmates tested positive within a week. It’s awful.”
But All of Us or None, a prisoner advocacy group, told KPFK News that the prisoner’s actions from surveillance footage is not obvious. Through a Twitter message, the group said conditions at the jail are already unbearable and many inmates fear the situation might get worse.
Hundreds of LA County Sheriff deputies who work the jails are in quarantine, having either tested positive for the virus or because they were in close contact with someone who was, a colleague or inmate.
Villanueva says 357 inmates have tested positive up sharply from last week.
Nearly 40% of the jail population is in quarantine to prevent further spread.
The Sheriff told an online press conference that inmates mistakenly believed that they could force authorities to release more individuals from custody. Villanueva said that's not gonna happen.
More than 5,000 inmates awaiting trial on low-level offenses or close to serving their full sentence have been released from county jails to slow the spread of the coronavirus, bringing the population down from roughly 17,000 to about 11,700 individuals.
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