Dauphin County Prison claims that it's mission is not warehouse individual inmates, but that is far from true for the female inmates! The male inmates are allowed more freedom to roam and/or be out-of-cell inside and outside of the prison. Women are allowed few, if any, opportunities for work details inside or outside of the prison& especially outside.
As far as care and custody, there is custody and NO care. Few of the staff, including guards and other authority figures, care for the inmate population as a whole. While it is true that a prison is supposed to be a prison and keep you "locked away" from society, Dauphin County Prison has to be one of the WORST facilities for anyone to be locked up in.
Pregnant Female Inmates, as well as the male and non-pregnant female inmates are fed one of the WORST diets in america's prisons. Not only aren't the meals nutritionally adequate, all inmates are left to "starve" between meals. The same meals that are not nutritionally adequate, are barely adequate in the provision to satisfy hunger.
Not only that the meals are poorly prepared (e.G., raw or 1/2 raw meats and under-cooked side dishes), arrive to the housing blocks cold, and are left to sit-out for hours on end when awaiting inmates who have been sent to court for the day. What's even worse than that, is that meals are served on stackable trays which are poorly washed and sanitized and are in poor repair. Also, meals often have human hairs and dust and other undesirable human additives in them.
Another thing that needs to be publicized about this prison's meals, is the fact that once a week the prisoners are served a mixture of whatever was served during the whole week. It is also seriously doubtful as to whether proper purchasing and storage measures are taken prior to the meals being served. Meaning that whatever is purchased is debateable as far as how fresh it is (especially the meats and the breads), and it is also debateable as to whether the person and/or persons preparing these meals are properly trained in proper cooking, serving, hygiene, and sanititation before and during the preparing and serving of these meals.
In light of this, the only thing that can be said to be edible and somewhat filling is the edible commissary items that inmates can purchase every week& AND BELIEVE ME, THE CHOICES ARE DELIBERATELY LIMITED (I BELIEVE) BY THE PRISON.
As to the inmates and/or few staff members that do care about the inmates, a certain prison official was quoted as saying that "these inmates are animals, and that they do not deserve anything better"! As to whether this reputed individual made this alleged comment or not, the prison reflects that there is a lot of mental abuse, neglect for the care, medical care, nutritional needs, and proper sanitation within this prison. AND IT NEEDS TO STOP!!!
Overcrowding is probably a serious problem in most prisons, but DCP "takes the cake". Not only are the cells always or most always full, so too are the dayrooms& to the point that beds and/or mattresses and inmates are within inches of each other. And at any given time, there can be as many as 1,100-1,200 inmates residing within this prison's walls. THE DCP FACILITY IS ONLY DESIGNED TO HOLD 700-800 INMATES, MAXIMUM.
THE PENNSYLVANIA PRISON SOCIETY NEEDS TO BE MADE AWARE: WHAT YOU ARE BEING SHOWN ON A TOUR, IS NOT WHAT GOES ON IN THE PRISON WHEN YOU'RE (THE PRISON SOCIETY) NOT TOURING DCP!!! The inmates are not being fed adequate, fresh, and nutritionally sound food& and, the facilities are NOT as clean as you have been led to believe.
That's another thing that needs to be addressed about DCP: the lack of proper sanitation. Not only are the mops not changed enough to eliminate the foul smell on the mops, the cleaning agents being used are NOT adequate in promoting cleanliness and sanitation. Most often whenever an inmate complains about the mops being wet and having a foul odor, the changing of the mops is often delayed and/or ignored until the guards complain to the prison officials that these mops need to be changed!!!
And what chemicals are being offered, are VERY INADEQUATE in cleaning and/or preventing the rust-orange fungi growing in the shower areas of the female housing blocks. Nor, do the chemicals used to clean the showers do anything to eliminate the foul smells and dirt film that lies in the shower areas, floors, and benches that the inmates are expected to shower and dress in!!! IN A WORD, THE SHOWERS FOR THE FEMALE INMATES ARE STINKY, DISGUSTING, AND FUNGI-RIDDEN. AND THAT TOO, NEEDS TO STOP!!!
The sheets, towels, washcloths, uniforms, and mattresses are another hygiene issue which needs to be addressed immediately! Heaven help you if you ever become an inmate of DCP! Not only do the uniforms often need to be re-washed by hand by the inmates using all of these items, but the mattresses are HORRIBLY DISGUSTING. The cloth mattresses which the inmates are expected to sleep on have a foul smell, are in poor repair, and often have urine and feces stains on them! If any free person were expected to sleep on these mattresses, they would automatically gross out and protest until something was done about it!
As for the blankets and bed linens, some of the sheets and blankets look like (and smell like) they were never washed! Old urine stains and blood stains are often left behind on the sheets, to the point where inmates have complained about this numerous times& with little and/or NO results and resolutions. Often times, the inmates must handwash these items in order to make them sanitary enough to use!!!
As for the plastic mattresses that inmates are expected to sleep on, the inmate often has to wash off the mattress in order to remove the foul smell and the leaking stuffing particles off the mattress in order to even be able to sleep on them!!!
As far as medical care, it is DEFINITELY NOT adequate. It takes a week or more to even see a doctor or a nurse when an inmate puts in a request. And, the medicines and other remedies being given to treat a specific medical problem often do not eliminate the problem.
GOD HELP ANY INMATE THAT IS PREGNANT, TOO! Not only do the pregnant inmates NOT get enough nutritionally sound food, the medical care is scant right up to the moment that the inmate goes into labor. There are plenty of guards around it would seem, but the female inmate in labor pays hell until a guard finally decides to call an ambulance for the pre-delivering woman!
It may be true that some people are no good and actually deserve to be in jail, but there are some inmates within this prison who only made one or two misdemeanor mistakes to get themselves into DCP. BUT, that still does not excuse the DCP facility in the ill-feeding, ill-treatment, over-crowding, and neglect of the folks who are in there repaying their debts to society!
This prison either needs to be made to clean up its act, or needs to be permanently closed with an "unfit for human habitation" sign posted on it!!! And if this facility insists on charging for rent and medical care, then it should be made to clean up or clear out & close!!!
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