We are severely short staffed, we have issues with improper medical and mental health care, along with rampant drug abuse by inmates (the use of synthetic cannabis, psychotropic drugs, Suboxone, pills, hand sanitizers, rubbing alcohol and bug sprays) which results in more aggressive behaviors by inmates. We are constantly on edge.
Even the inmates that do not use are exposed to these drugs and it’s dangerous. All the while, staff turns a blind eye. When it comes to the excessive K-2 smoking there’s no escaping as it is everywhere. We are not safe, the compound is so infested and saturated with drugs it all leads to a dangerous environment. The resulting bullying and threats are very real here. Suicide attempts have skyrocketed. When these individuals get high they exhibit paranoid behaviors, scream, pick skin, vomit, defecate, and screech like they are possessed. It’s awful to watch. For the most part the roommates have to clean it up as they are too high to do it themselves, thus exposing others to all types of body fluids. Just recently we came off a mass lockdown. Over a three- to four-day period, 30-40 inmates dropped like flies, falling out due to drug use. Several staff were exposed. Waseca is not safe and there needs to be better oversight. It’s no mystery who is using what. But staff just flat out ignores it.
There are several inmates who work for the textile factory, and often bully and antagonize others. A staff member took it upon themselves to have them urine tested and needless to say, the truth was in the piss. A lot of them failed the drug test. They accused one of my relatives, who is also here, of ratting on them. But that is not true. Nevertheless, about a half dozen inmates assaulted my cousin. They all ended up in the SHU. I went to the SHU 16 days later, merely for trying to diffuse the event. Both me and my cousin were found guilty and she was transferred to another facility. But the troublemakers are still here and staff allows this nonsense to go on!
Another time when I was in the SHU (also for something I did not do), I was not in a good mental space and attempted to hang myself. I was maced and I was slammed to the floor repeatedly instead of being helped. I was later taken to suicide watch. (No one told me that water activates the burning sensation in mace. And even though I was maced in the face, it ran everywhere, even into genitals, and I kept trying to rinse off to relieve the burning. But nothing helped! Several days later, a nice officer gave me milk and it did provide relief.)
Can you believe that the captain, who was in charge of safety and security, came to my door and asked, “How did you like the taste of mace?” I asked a SIS officer who was on watch that first night why I was treated in such a manner. He said it was because of what I identify as [Black transgender].
The suicide watch room was not helpful. It’s just more isolation and degradation. I was watched by staff 24 X 7, and most of the “companions” were men. The shower is open sided and the toilet is open to view. There is absolutely NO privacy. I felt lower than the sole of a shoe.
There also hasn’t been a psychiatrist available on site for well over three years. Instead, there is only “psych in a box” (televisits). The psychologists are overwhelmed. To get in to see someone, you’re told you will be placed on callout. But when the time comes. you are often turned away due to emergencies and understaffing. A dear friend just went through a horrible family court case. Mentally, she is a basket case. And now she has to wake up here each and every day, dealing with the intoxicated bunkies and their demonic behavior. She has emailed psychology for assistance to no avail.
As for Medical, their favorite answer to any complaint is to “drink water.” And when we get copies of our medical records, we often discover false statements. The complaints we presented with are re-worded to benefit the BOP.
Problems do not die here; they multiply.