Letter to the editor: Humane treatment at the Allegheny County Jail

The Department of Justice recognizes that “Do not underestimate culture, it drives everything” and “The culture of the facility will be the determining factor of your warden’s success.”

An opposing viewpoint will be describing horror stories and statistics of how the restraint chair was abused for punishment. I suggest the horror stories depend on three important variables: 1) the warden’s success in working with the jail culture, 2) the philosophy of the warden regarding punitive vs. corrective measures and 3) the collaboration that exists between health care staff and correctional officers.

Frontline staff at the Allegheny County Jail say our new warden is in the blocks daily, listening and developing relationships with frontline staff, and is building consensus. He was chosen for his ideas on building more of a corrective and clinical setting, not a punitive setting. He recognizes the value and the essentials of a team where security and clinical staff communicate and work effectively together.

If you sift through the arguments and learn what national studies say about the restraint chair, and listen to what the frontline staff is saying, you realize that it is much more humane for a resident to be sitting in a chair transported instead of officers holding and carrying him or her, risking injury to both the resident and officer. And if you have confidence in our new warden, you will realize that reinstating the restraint chair for transportation and an intervention in medical crisis is the right choice.

John Kenstowicz

Morningside The writer works as an advocate to improve living and working conditions at the Allegheny County Jail.