![Brandi Fisher, holding the microphone in a blazer, holds a sign that reads "fire Warden [Orlando] Harper." She stands in front of a group of about two dozen other people, some of whom hold signs with phrases like "investigate Judge [Anthony] Mariani," "notify the families," and "provide medical care."](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/afa857a/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1280x960+0+0/resize/840x630!/format/webp/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F84%2Fcd%2F1ebfdb9342a489185993abeb3b8c%2Fbrandi-fisher-alliance-for-police-accountability-black-political-empowerment-project-pennsylvania-interfaith-impact-network-city-county-building-allegheny-county-jail.jpg)
Community members, activists and advocacy groups continued to bring attention to what they call “dangerous conditions” at the Allegheny County Jail during a jail oversight board meeting on Thursday.
During a public comment period, speakers detailed inedible food, rat sightings in food preparation areas and inadequate medical care.
A survey conducted by the University of Pittsburgh School of Social Work last year found that a majority of people incarcerated at the jail were “highly dissatisfied” with the medical care and food provided. Some said they did not receive the proper medication for their chronic conditions. Others said their medication was routinely delayed.
Jail officials made their multi-page written response public earlier this week.
“In response to a review of the food program in early 2020, the caloric intake was increased by 400 calories, or 14%, to 3,200 calories a day. It has and will continue to remain at that level,” officials wrote.
They also noted that Fort Pitt Exterminators treats the kitchen area twice a week, and the jail kitchen is regularly inspected by the county health department.
Summit Food Services, LLC is the contractor responsible for providing food at the jail. Their contract with the county expires at the end of this year. A request for proposals for meal service and commissary providers has been issued.
Officials also acknowledged that “sometimes medications are not passed at the designated time.”
“There are many contributing factors other than staffing, including patients not being available because they’re in Court, or not reporting for or refusing medication. The jail is aware of this issue and will continue to work with our medical partners to address [it].”
But some disputed jail officials’ responses.
“It was a regurgitation of policy,” said Rev. Richard Freeman, the president of the Pennsylvania Interfaith Impact Network. “It won’t do a thing to stop men from dying in our county jail.”
Others gave Warden Orlando Harper blankets and feminine hygiene products for the incarcerated people in response to the 82% of survey respondents who reported that they purchased hygiene products from the commissary and a number of responses that indicated “jail supplied pillows, blankets, and mattresses were uncomfortable and insufficient.”
Chief Deputy Warden Jason Beasom told the jail oversight board that incarcerated people are provided with basic necessities including soap, toothbrushes, and feminine hygiene products. Earlier this year officials “determined that a wider variety and supply of feminine hygiene products was needed.” They said they adjusted their purchases to address the need.
It is unclear if the items will be taken to the jail. At the close of the meeting, they remained piled at the front of the room.
Before the jail oversight board meeting, dozens of people from the Black Political Empowerment Project, Alliance for Police Accountability, and Pennsylvania Interfaith Impact Network gathered under the portico outside the City-County Building. They held signs with phrases on them like “provide medical care,” “notify the families” and “fire Warden Harper.”
The demonstration was prompted in part by the death of Anthony Talotta, a man diagnosed with autism and intellectual disabilities who was pronounced dead at a hospital last month after he was found unresponsive in the jail.
Talotta was the sixth person incarcerated at Allegheny County Jail to die this year; 17 people, including Talotta, have died at the jail since April 2020.
“Mr. Talotta didn’t have to die,” Allegheny County councilor and jail oversight board member Bethany Hallam said at the rally. “No one in that jail had to die. Every single death in the Allegheny County Jail is preventable. All we’re asking for is people to care enough for people to speak out, to act.”
Hallam also addressedrecent reporting by the Pittsburgh Institute for Nonprofit Journalism, which found that one of two doctors employed at the jail had his license to practice medicine revoked, denied or suspended in multiple states.
“A non-doctor was working as a doctor in our jail,” Hallam said.
Later at the jail oversight board meeting, Deputy Health Services administrator Ashley Brinkman said Wilson Bernales was an Allegheny Health Network employee. AHN provides medical care at the jail.
“AHN is responsible for verifying credentials and licensures for the providers that they hire, and Dr. Bernales was licensed to practice in Pennsylvania,” Brinkman said.
Bernales has since been suspended. Brinkman said the jail has requested a replacement physician.
At the rally, president and CEO of the Alliance for Police Accountability Brandi Fisher and others called for Harper to be fired.
“If you had a job and were responsible for this job and 17 people died on your watch—17 people died on your watch—would you still have that job?” Fisher asked. “If you had[162] citations from the Allegheny Health Department, would your business still be open? No. And so that jail should be and is no exception.”
A spokesperson for County Executive Rich Fitzgerald, who is in charge of hiring and firing the jail warden, declined to comment. A spokesperson for the Allegheny County Jail did not respond to a request for comment.
The National Commission on Correctional Health Care began its review of fatalities at the jail earlier this week. A site visit is planned for November.
The jail oversight board will meet again next month.
