Chron.com : Harris County Jail victims’ families demand action at Commissioners Court
August 8, 2023
People with mental illnesses are the least able to advocate for themselves, putting them in the most danger in jail, Gundu said. Now, she’s pushing the state to prevent people with mental illnesses from going to jail in the first place.
Topics: 2023news, Custody Death, Jail Conditions, Medical
Family members of Harris County Jail victims delivered an open letter to county commissioners during Tuesday’s Commissioners Court meeting demanding changes at the jail. The open letter comes after 22 families and former detainees filed a lawsuit against Harris County alleging a pattern of abuse and neglect at the jail.
Full Letter on Behalf of Families Impacted by the Crisis at the Harris County Jail
The letter tells the stories of 12 victims who allegedly suffered abuse and medical neglect at the jail, in the words of their families and loved ones. It also lays out a seven-point demand list for commissioners to implement immediate changes at the jail, including new accountability measures imposed on the Harris County Sheriff’s Office (which runs the jail) and new policies to “to divert the most vulnerable people (e.g those in psychiatric crisis) immediately to the emergency room instead of booking them into the jail.”
It also lays out a seven-point demand list for commissioners to implement immediate changes at the jail, including new accountability measures imposed on the Harris County Sheriff’s Office (which runs the jail) and new policies to “to divert the most vulnerable people (e.g those in psychiatric crisis) immediately to the emergency room instead of booking them into the jail.” If people got the right care, at the right time, at the right place, we would not be seeing this mental health crisis in the jails.
Harris County leaders no-showed a meeting with the Texas Commission on Jail Standards in Austin last week, after agency director Brandon Wood formally requested their attendance to discuss conditions inside Harris County Jail. The facility received a failing grade from state regulators in March for substandard medical care after inspectors found that jail staff members were failing to treat medical issues in a timely manner and ignoring doctors’ treatment plans for medically vulnerable detainees.