County jails are not supposed to be a luxury retreat, but you may be shocked to find out some of the conditions on the inside.
Both guards and inmates at the Blair County Prison claim their safety is at risk, citing under staffing, overworking, and overcrowding, amongst others.
“It’s gotten worse in the last year and a half,” said a Blair County Corrections Officer, who came to WTAJ with some concerns.
“At one point we had 35 fill in officers and now we are down to 5,” the CO said. “Some have quit, some have gotten fired.”
Some have to work extra to pick up the slack, and they are getting burned out.
“Someone is going to get hurt,” the CO said. “Lack of sleep, 16 hours takes a big toll out on you.”
The officer said there are good ones working in the system, but there are others who are power-hungry, looking for an inmate to take it out on.
“They should be treated like human beings,” said one former inmate. “They’re human beings whether they committed a crime or not. That was due to their bad choices, but that doesn’t mean that they have to be treated unfairly or treated like they are less than.”
This former inmate has been in and out of the system since 2004. Both the inmate and CO told WTAJ the cells are full.
“You got four women in a cell and sometimes when it’s overcrowded you may have a fifth person sleeping on the floor,” the former inmate said. “That’s a long time for five people to be locked in one cell.”
“We’ve already had 5 in about 8 or 9 cells,” said the CO. “When we are like that, we have to put them in the gym. We have no other choice and they shouldn’t be in the gym.”
There is tension between inmates and officers, but for the right price, they will work together.
The CO has seen other officers bring in contraband.
“They’ve had needles come in filled with heroin. We could walk on a block and probably get stabbed with a needle,” the CO said. “They make shanks. So we are pretty much afraid on certain blocks knowing that that’s the items that are on there.”
The officer said there has been anything from cell phones and wire to tobacco and razor blades on the blocks.
Dangerous and unclean; the former inmate has seen it, too.
“At one point there was black mold three feet up the shower walls, and it was there for months and months,” they said. “And they said they were gonna address that. I’ve never seen that happen. So it’s just unsanitary. It’s just an unhealthy environment.”
“It’s never ending,” the officer said. “I think it’s going to get worse before it gets better
The officer added the jail administration is aware of all of this. WTAJ reached out to the warden for an interview, but he declined to comment.
