For my entire stay inside the jail, I was put into the same Cell. I went in with the intent to gather as much information as I could to really see for myself just how bad the jail is. This jail was worse than I could even imagine. Each cell was overcrowded. Inmates were denied important medical treatment. People were pepper sprayed while chained down in a restraint chair. The jail stayed dirty. Cells went without basic hygiene products for a week (could have been longer).
Every week the cell I was in was overcrowded with three to four people sleeping on the floor. The cell is designed for eight people with 4 sets of bunk beds. Most of the men that were in the cell were people who not only lived outside the county but their crimes happened from outside of the county. Wayne County will house inmates from other counties. This is because other counties will pay them to house their inmates. It seems to me that the Jail is knowingly overcrowding their cells to be able to bill the other counties that they house inmates for.
On my fourth weekends While entering the jailer was busy with processing someone out of the jail on probation and parole. There were two probation and parole officers there to receive the inmate. One of the officers said to the jailer that he can’t believe that they house this many people. Then they said that they have a larger place and said they house much fewer people.
This jail has overcrowded the cells to profit. The overcrowding of the cells only allows for a small path between each person’s mat to walk around. Many times you will trip over someone just trying to go to the bathroom.
I was locked up with a man who had suffered from a brown recluse spider bite. That he got while locked up in another cell. While I was in there he was treating the wound. He informed me that it took him 10 days to get medical treatment. That was only after his family offered to pay the bills. He told me that before receiving treatment that his wound was so bad that his skin was gone from the spot he was bitten on. He said the pain was so bad that he was unable to sleep. He also said that the nurse said that if they waited another day that he could have lost his arm.
The Jailers allowed this man to suffer in pain up to the point that he almost lost his arm due to an easily treatable spider bite. The jailers no longer see the inmates that they are in charge of taking care of as humans.
On my fourth weekend while waiting to be processed in. I was handcuffed to the restraint chair while the jailers were handling other duties. When the Jailer got to processing me in I asked him, “What was the longest time someone sat in that chair” He answered 14 days and said he was placed in the chair before he started working there. I asked the jailer why did he not speak up and get him moved from the chair he answered with “He was not the one who placed him in it and it was not up to him to remove him” I would not find out till the following weekend that I was locked up with the same guy that the jailer and I talked about the weekend before.
When leaving my fourth weekend I saw an inmate who was locked in the chair with signs of pepper spray on the side of his head. I waited till I was being walked out the door to ask him a few questions. I found out he was pepper-sprayed while locked in the chair.
When I came back for my last weekend I was relieved to see that a new person was in the chair. That person was waiting to be released. That weekend I talked more with my cellmates as I had grown comfortable with them. We talked about how last weekend when I left that I saw someone with pepper spray on the side of his head while in the chair. I asked them if this was normal and they said you should have seen Alfred (who was sent to prison while I was not there). They said he was in the chair for over a week and when they brought him to the cell they wheeled him in. They told me that Alfred was barely able to walk and was really weak, and they had to take care of him. That was when I realized that Alfred was the same man the jailer was talking about the week before.
I came into the Jail on Fridays. On Fridays is “cleaning” day. After 8 - 12 people cleaning a small cell for about 45 mins the cell was still dirty. So once a week each cell is given a broom, a mop, with a bucket of bleach water. After cleaning the cell it seems to do nothing for the smell. When you have a small cell overcrowded with 12 other people eating sleeping showering and using the bathroom in the cell that is only cleaned once a week it keeps the place with a layer of filth that one can not easily be described with words.
On My last weekend in the jail, I was informed that they did not receive any hygiene products for the week. Normally on Sunday’s the inmates are given a travel size of hygiene products that should be enough for a week. The Sunday before my last weekend the cell did not receive their hygiene products like normal. When I left for my last time the cell still had not received their hygiene products. As far as I know, the cell still has not received their hygiene products at the time of writing this.
The jail has made a few changes from the last time I wrote about the jail (Read the story here). The jail is no longer only serving hot pockets every day. The menu has changed for dinner they receive normal editable meal 6 days a week and is served a hot pocket just once a week for dinner. I can only hope and wish that this is a sign to come that the jail will slowly come up to standards.
By
Bryan Jeffers
Liberal Missourian