Harris County Jail makes front page news - Texas

Texasfem · #1 02-18-2007, 10:59 PM

Check out the Houston Chronicle or go on www.houstonchronicle.com

here is the link to the story.

Six years, 101 deaths in Harris County jails

My son spent 1 1/2 in Harris county jail, unfortunately he witnessed only one case where the inmate was beaten and tasered to death.

dawna9375 · #2 02-19-2007, 09:31 AM

My mother-in-law is a sheriffs deputy in Harris County (can't remember which jail though). She came over Saturday and we chatted a bit about the problems there. She says that they are doing a few things to help them pass inspection...none of them include getting the inmates off the floor or above 18" off the floor. It includes things like painting and cleaning. She said that the major/captain for the two jails have switched jails. So, the major/captain from Baker went to San Jacinto. (does that make sense?) She said that her jail is screwing up so many things because of lack of personnel that they decided to switch them in order to make them run better...hopefully. She says that they have more 'white coats' than actual sheriffs. The white coats are the jailers. The jailers are not trained as extensively and they don't have to go to the academy. She works 6 double shifts a week. She says that on most shifts they have 4-5 regular shift personnel, and the other 9-10 are all overtimers. And there is no end in sight. This overtime situation could be indefinite for them. Oh, and they are taking the warehouse across the street from one of the jails and turning it into the intake facility with MHMRA patients (psych ward). MHMRA will be the only inmates in that facility. And they are building another facility off of atascocita road somewhere for the same thing.
We don't have enough personnel for the jails now, who the HELL is going to work there?

**e_wife03** · #3 02-19-2007, 09:45 AM

Thanks for sharing this , my husband was there a for a few months , and it was crazy up there .. I do hope that this article will at least make them have to change things within the walls of harris county, but then again they may fix it now but barely fix it enough to get by ..

murmurkibbies · #4 02-23-2007, 05:38 PM

That article brought tears to my eyes, knowing how much time my husband has spent in that place, that he might have witnessed such awful events...

**mamajmg** · #5 02-23-2007, 06:58 PM

My son was waiting at Baker St for almost four months before he went to safp. It helps me to understand how much he's changed. I'm not saying it's in negative ways but I see him struggling. And I think it's from the total experience. In county he was more frustrated. The treatment and other things he told me. I guess I'm a bit scared to share too much as he's back in Harris County and not completely out of the system.

Janice

murmurkibbies · #6 02-23-2007, 08:59 PM

So the state jails (such as Lychner in Humble, TX) are much safer and accomodating, right?

My husband has a herniated disc and chronic pain due to it. He had been taking prescribed narcotic pain relievers occasionally before he was arrested, but he was in a Missouri jail for a while, and I DID get a letter from him there before he was extradited to Texas. He said they'd taken away the narcotics and were just giving him Ibuprofen and anti-depressants... why anti-depressants? I'll never know... I wonder if they are continuing the anti-d's in Lychner... He said they were making him very emotional....

Ok, I'm gonna stop now, because I have caught myself babbling... LOL