Local prison and jail loved ones worry about COVID-19 safety practices at facilities

MONTEREY COUNTY, Calif. (KION) Monterey County Jail is just one of several facilities in the state that has experienced a COVID-19 outbreak. To date, 195 inmates have tested positive at the jail.

In Soledad, the Correctional Training Facility has managed to stay coronavirus free with its inmates, according to the CDCR. Two staff members have tested positive, but both have recovered. However, a recent investigation conducted at the prisons “central facility” is raising questions from loved ones.

“Woken up at 3 a.m., basically hog tied together and sent to the chow hall. No masks and whatever they were sleeping in,” a wife of an inmate at CTF said.

The CDCR said a portion of inmates in a Security Threat Group (STG), or gang, in the prison were taken out of their housing areas last week during an investigation. Loved ones of inmates that were involved in the “raid” told KION the prisoners were stuck in close quarters while they waited for the investigation to be conducted in their housing facility.

"Safety protocols were followed throughout the investigation. Warden Koenig personally toured during the investigation to ensure it was being conducted safely and appropriately," a CDCR spokesperson said. "Nobody was harmed and the institution’s normal operations resumed quickly. However, if any incarcerated person feels otherwise, they are always welcome to file an appeal utilizing the normal institutional Form 602 process."

Some family members alleged the targeted raid was race related since the inmates were all black, but the CDCR denies those claims.

Family members of prisoners believe more sentences should be cut short for coronavirus concerns.

“The department of corrections is doing the bare minimum. I know my husbands in prison for crimes and things they’ve done, but do they deserve being in fear of catching this virus?”

No education or vocational programs are going on during the pandemic, but starting in August they’ll resume one of their behavioral health programs (Cognitive Behavioral Interventions) with small class sizes.

"Contract staff are screened and tested in the same manner as other CDCR and CCHCS employees and are subject to follow the same COVID-19 guidelines the department has in place for state institutions," a CDCR spokesperson said.

In Salinas, Monterey County Jail families continue to question the handling of the COVID-19 outbreak. Including Julianna Davis who’s father tested positive last week.

"For him to call me and be like, ‘they didn’t give me my medication today. The nurse was late, so they only gave me one aspirin and one cough drop,'" Davis said. "It’s like, okay, well that’s the nurse’s fault. They should still be serving you your daily meds."

Four inmates with COVID-19 were sent to the hospital, but have all been released. The jail said they're now going to start testing some inmates for a second time.

Jail officials said over the course of the pandemic, 238 inmates have been released early because of COVID-19.