Allegheny County Jail Warden Defends Shutdown Over Water Issue
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PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- A meeting of the Allegheny County Jail oversight board Thursday concluded with Warden Orlando Harper assuring everybody that he was doing everything he could to get hot water running throughout the jail, but a number of citizens were skeptical.
Chaired by Judge David Cashman, with members like Sheriff Bill Mullen, county Councilman John Defazio, other officials and citizen representatives, the jail oversight board heard from citizens unhappy with the modified lockdown at the jail.
The room was filled with a number of people, a number of whom questioned the need for a lockdown, which essentially keeps family and friends from visiting inmates.
The lack of hot water in part of the jail was caused by a faulty rooftop water tower valve, which the warden said could not be fixed until temperatures were 45 degrees or higher, something in short supply this week.
Inmates on the lower floors were most affected, said the warden, and he was doing his best to get them hot showers on upper floors. But that didn't satisfy several of the citizens who spoke to the board.
"It's ridiculous. We live in the technological hub, the autonomous technological hub, of America, and you all can't even have hot running water in your jail. What does that mean for Pittsburgh? This is the most livable city in America. This is the city where love is stronger than hate. I'm sure you all have those signs up on your yard, but you're running a prison without any hot water," Jordan Malloy, with the Pa. Student Power Network, said.
"I personally spent months in our county jail a few years back, and I took dozens of freezing cold showers, as did everyone else who was housed in the county jail, and we never went on a lockdown because of that. I want to know why are we on a lockdown for something that has been going on for so many years and nobody's ever talked about?" Bethany Hallam, a Democratic Allegheny County Council candidate, said.
"We devised a plan to get 1,500 inmates to levels six, seven and eight, and we're ensuring their safety and security. So the lockdown was to protect the inmates that were being transported from level one up to levels six, seven and eight. My primary responsibility is the safety and security of the ACJ, so that is why the jail was locked down, modified, because I had to ensure the safety of 1,500 inmates being transported to levels six, seven and eight," Harper said.
The warden said 390 of the 1,500 inmates had already been showered and the process will continue overnight and be completed Friday morning, before starting all over again.
With temperatures rising, the warden hopes to have the plumbing repairs completed on Saturday and the lockdown end on Sunday.
