Allegheny County Jail Video Raises Meals Service Issues Amongst Elected Officers – CBS Pittsburgh

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – A grabbing video on social media is raising concern about the quality of food in Allegheny County Jail.

Teresa Brown says she had a video conversation with her nephew, an inmate in prison, on Saturday. He showed her what was on his tray for dinner and asked her to take it up.

“This is the dinner they are serving us in prison tonight,” says the man in the video. “Bologna with applesauce and Teddy Grahams. That’s the only thing on our tray for dinner tonight. “

The man also asks his aunt to “make this viral”.

Brown posted the video on social media, where it received public attention and local executives.

“Animals eat better than my nephew yesterday,” said Brown.

Someone sent the video to Bethany Hallam, councilor for At-Large Allegheny County, who also sits on the district’s governing body.

Hallam says she heard from relatives of several inmates about conditions in the prison and received more complaints than usual on Saturday.

“They talked about kitchen workers getting COVID, replacement kitchen workers being quarantined, and now the food provided, an understatement of the year, is less than adequate.”

Allegheny County Jail recently saw a surge in COVID-19 cases. On Tuesday, they announced 56 new cases with hundreds more people in quarantine.

In a statement, an Allegheny County spokesman said Saturday’s dinner was affected by problems with kitchen staff.

“Inmates who worked in the kitchen yesterday showed symptoms of COVID and have been quarantined,” the spokesman said. “Other inmates volunteered and started working in the kitchen this morning. Dinner was the only thing that was affected yesterday. Breakfast this morning consisted of sausage, potatoes, cereal and fruit. “

However, both Hallam and Brown said that the quality of the prison’s food had been a constant problem for some time.

“Regardless of whether they’re in jail or not, they’re human,” Brown said. “You must treat them with respect.”

Hallam said prison regulators have been campaigning for better prison food for some time, but the quality has deteriorated during the pandemic.

“The fact that we now have a video of everything people have said about food quality in prison will hopefully finally bring attention to this issue.”