Inside the JoCo Jail
Grant Pass – Insufficient staffing in the new jail is creating problems. To get around the problem of insufficient staff Daniel (the gingerbread sheriff) is using long periods of lock down for prisoners. It has been reported that one period ran for 30-hours. Others report 23-hours. The lockdown is apparently for the entire jail not just inmates being punished, for infractions. The conditions inside the jail are said to be tense.
Federal prisoners are confined in the same cells as local prisoners. Local prisoners are generally confined for one year or less. The housing of federal prisoners brings in more dough for the sheriff.
Gingerbread Sheriff
Sheriff Daniel has obtains the nickname of the gingerbread sheriff because he is always wanting more dough. Another example is the out going calls from the jail. A ten-minute call is $14.64, and part of that charge is a $2.75 service charge, going to the commissary fund. .
Female deputies are still reported to be eye balling the male prisoners when they shower. One inmate fancies a female deputy has a crush on him and is interested in his private parts. This sounds like a sick situation. Female guards should be used sparingly in the men’s section of the jail, and not around nude men.
A commissary foul up keeps inmates form buying needed items. Logistics seems to be another problem in the new jail.
Inmate Report
JoCo Jail, Jan. 20 -- Conditions are reported to be bad in the JoCo jail. Here are quotes from an inmate: "The kitchen crew and food servers have no plastic gloves or hair nets on. Of course, the fear is food borne illnesses or hepatitis. So many drug users in jail. I was on a thirty-hour lockdown and just got out to make a call and take a shower. They are short staffed and they can't control it (the jail) without keeping it in a lockdown. Oh, and no commissary this week to intensify the tension it was ordered on Tuesday of last week it is still not here."
Questions on Sanitation in the Jail
Sanitation is of great importance in a jail, especially with hepatitis and other infectious diseases are so easily spread inside a prison. The jail can be an incubator for infectious diseases to be spread into a community. Lt. Gordon Anderson is in charge of the jail. The tendency of the Daniel Administration is to not respond to questions regarding this elite group’s jail policy. As has previously been pointed out, a black curtain is drawn around the inner workings of the sheriff’s department.
E-mail Addresses
The public can reach the jail services at GWILLIAMS@co.josephine.or.us the JoCo county commissioners Bcc@co.josephine.or.us and Sheriff Daniel DDANIEL@co.josephine.or.us . Please note the county commissioners will probably want to cover up problems within the sheriff’s department. So far, they have a poor track record of responding to jailhouse problems. For any county department to get out of control will reflect back on the commissioners. Hence, the desire to keep bad news suppressed. Part of the problem is that the sheriff is an elective office and that makes him mostly independent. He does depend on the commissioner for his budget.
Attempted Suicide
Grants Pass, Jan. 22, -- Strobezone received a report today of an attempted suicide in the jail. An inmate is reported to have asked for a razor to shave, and then used it to cut his wrists. Inmates are reported to use razors for shaving. They are passed around from a bag and then returned to the same bag, jumbled together, after use. The possibility of blood on a razor should be a major concern for jail inmates and supervisors. At least one inmate has stopped shaving. That sounds smart to me.