THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, August 6, 1994 TAG: 9408060199
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JOE JACKSON, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Long : 172 lines
A Justice Department investigation of the City Jail has concluded that the ``grossly overcrowded'' facility is a serious public-health threat where living conditions are ``offensive to elementary concepts of human decency.''
``Based on our investigation, we believe that conditions at the Norfolk City Jail are grossly deficient and violate the constitutional rights of prisoners,'' the Justice Department said in a report received Friday by Sheriff Robert McCabe.
The report - based on inspections of the jail in November and December - lists more than 50 problems that jail officials must correct to avoid being sued by the Justice Department.
While Justice officials have acknowledged some progress at the jail since McCabe took office in January, the report says the sheriff has 49 days to address the criticisms.
``If you do not respond within the stated time period, we will consider initiating an action against your jurisdiction to remedy the unlawful conditions,'' wrote Deval L. Patrick, assistant attorney general for Justice's civil rights division.
At worst, the Justice Department could sue in federal court to close the jail.
But that probably won't happen, McCabe said Friday. Justice officials are looking for signs that McCabe is making a ``good-faith effort'' to correct the health, civil rights and safety violations.
Since he inherited the jail in January from former Sheriff David K. Mapp Jr., McCabe has been in touch with Justice officials and has started fixing many problems. In June, for example, he fired the jail's medical provider - the target of the Justice Department's most stern criticism.
Still, the major underlying issue remains: severe overcrowding.
The report demands that McCabe come up with a plan within 90 days to cut the jail's population nearly in half - from 1,377 to 750 - and implement the plan within six months.
``Realistically, I will do everything I can,'' McCabe said Friday. ``But there are some things that are not realistic. The city is going to have to work with the sheriff to come up with . . . more jail space.''
The jail, rated for 597 prisoners, will have 1,700 inmates by 1996, a state panel predicted this year. The jail population is so large that the jail ``is functioning as a de facto state prison - a role it was not designed, equipped or staffed to fulfill,'' a consultant wrote.
McCabe said, ``We are working feverishly with the state to get rid of some of these prisoners and relieve overcrowding. The state has promised it will take 100 in the next few weeks. . . . But 500 of our inmates are unsentenced people awaiting trial.''
McCabe said he is investigating several ways to free up jail space, including home incarceration and building prison barges, a proposal first floated in 1988. McCabe has talked informally with Norshipco and Colonna's Shipyard about the barge idea, he said.
Other steps that must be taken immediately include:
Installing an automatic sprinkler system throughout the eight-story, 33-year-old building. McCabe did not know how much this would cost, but estimated it would be several hundred thousand dollars, perhaps as much as $1 million. The city would pay for the installation, McCabe said.
Closing the satellite jail annex's kitchen. ``Our consultant found food-preparation facilities and sanitation practices to be woefully inadequate,'' the report said.
Inspectors found rat droppings in the bread, and mice footprints and tail tracks in the sugar. The report ordered the kitchen closed.
Screening and treating tuberculosis. Because there is no effective TB-screening program, the jail ``poses a serious public-health threat'' to inmates, guards and the public, the report said.
``Indeed, 14 of the 16 records randomly reviewed had no TB test at all,'' the report said. ``In one case, an inmate known to be HIV-positive had no tuberculosis skin test and no chest X-ray. The prisoner died almost eight months later as a result of AIDS and tuberculosis encephalopathy. The absence of an adequate tuberculosis detection program may have resulted in his inadvertently spreading this disease while confined.''
Providing education and recreation for juvenile inmates, as well as recreational outlets for all prisoners. Currently the only recreation is pingpong on the eighth floor.
The report stemmed from a nine-month investigation into charges of safety, health and civil rights violations during Mapp's 12-year tenure as sheriff. Experts in prison conditions, health and safety inspected the jail in November and December, while Mapp was still sheriff.
While the report is an indictment of Mapp's administration, it also causes problems for City Hall, which may have to spend millions to improve the city-owned building.
``The entire facility must undergo substantial change . . . to meet minimum health and safety standards,'' wrote James J. Balsamo, an environmental health and safety expert for the Justice Department.
The report made conclusions about several jail problems, some of which have been resolved since the 1993 visits:
Overcrowding and record-keeping: E. Eugene Miller, the department's penologist, said the jail was one of the worst he had seen in years. Overcrowding led to an ``unacceptably high incidence of violence,'' with thousands of violent assaults and rapes not even documented, the report says. ``The observable level of tension therein is scary,'' Miller wrote.
Record-keeping was nearly nonexistent, he added, defeating any attempt to document and control problems. On every floor, deputies kept ``floor logs'' of incidents, yet ``while the logs did indicate that the checks were being made, every single entry indicated that everything was `secure and normal,' '' the report said.
In one instance that illustrates ``the absurdity of these log entries,'' the report said, a Justice Department attorney was present during a Dec. 2 fire. Later, she checked the log and found that, ``according to the entries, everything was `secure and normal.' One can only wonder what would occasion an entry of `abnormal' in the log.''
Fire safety: ``Serious deficiencies in fire safety result in a life-threatening environment.''
Most fire hazards have been corrected, except for the lack of sprinklers, McCabe said. But in November, Justice officials found many fire traps: Fire escapes were welded, bolted or padlocked shut. Keys to doors allowing escape could not be found. The entire alarm system, including smoke detectors, did not work. There was no evacuation plan. ``Several guards failed to know the location of the stairs,'' the report said.
Medical care: ``Medical care is grossly inadequate and fails to meet the serious needs of inmates.''
Besides failing to screen for communicable diseases, health professionals were underqualified, emergency-response times were dangerously long, and the medical-records system was ``the worst (a medical consultant) had seen in the last 10 years,'' the report said. Eighteen inmates have died in the jail since 1983, most from medical problems.
These problems contributed to McCabe's decision to fire the private medical provider in June, replacing it with a team from Norfolk Community Hospital.
Security: ``Security practices threaten the safety and well-being of the inmates.''
Overcrowding caused thousands of assaults, investigators said, and the staff was too small to break up fights. Also, there was no disciplinary procedure for inmates who attacked others. The only recourse was separating combatants into other overcrowded cells.
``Additionally, during our investigation we discovered that gaining assistance of a deputy, even in a life-threatening situation, was purely at the discretion of the deputies,'' the report said. ``Several inmates reported that they have had to scream for hours to gain assistance.
``During our investigation, we experienced these circumstances firsthand. On one occasion, we yelled for the help of a deputy for approximately five minutes before we gained any assistance.''
McCabe said Friday, ``The violence is just about the same now as at the time of the report. . . . We just aren't covering it up, that's all.'' ILLUSTRATION: PROBLEMS AT THE JAIL:
Steps that must be taken immediately:
Relieve severe overcrowding
Install an automatic sprinkler system
Close satellite jail annex's kitchen due to unsanitary
conditions
Screen and treat tuberculosis
Provide education and recreation for juvenile inmates, as well as
recreational outlets for all prisoners
MOTOYA NAKAMURA/ Staff file photos
The Norfolk City Jail was crowded in January. ``We are working
feverishly with the state to get rid of some of these prisoners and
relieve overcrowding,'' Sheriff Robert McCabe said Friday.
File photos
A holding tank in the Norfolk City Jail, shown in January, had
recently been repainted.
A medical unit was littered with trash in January. The jail's
medical provider, the target of the Justice Department's most stern
criticism, was fired in June.
Inmates Michael Robinson, left, Bruce Stuart, right, and Kenny
Robinson, rear, complain about water leaks in January.
Inmate Anthony Gibbs, right, talks to officials including Sheriff
Robert McCabe during a media tour of the jail in January.
KEYWORDS: NORFOLK CITY JAIL JUSTICE DEPARTMENT REPORT HAZARDS
OVERCROWDING by CNB