MONROE CO. — Monroe County Sheriff Ruben Marté says quick action must be taken on improving the current county jail.
Sheriff Marté did a walkthrough of the jail with his senior staff and found inmates and staff living and working in what he says are “deplorable conditions”.
“It was inhumane what we saw and smelled,” Sheriff Marté added.
Jail commander Kyle Gibbons documents that multiple inmates were sleeping on bare floors and some inmates had no shoes or socks and one inmate was using a Styrofoam cup as a pillow. Inmates were sleeping within feet of their own urine. The toilet was non-operational and inmates were urinating in a grate on the floor.
Officials said the jail was found filthy. The floors were coated in dirt and there was mold, trash, and clogged toilets throughout the jail. They also found a mysterious green substance oozing out of an air vent.
Sheriff Marté reported several ceilings are leaking water including an area right next to a high-voltage power box. Officials believed the water was coming from the shower and toilet areas.
Sheriff Marté immediately began addressing issues. His staff spent countless hours scraping the dirt off the floors with putty knives.
But he admits it will take time and lots of money to address the numerous issues in the jail.
Sheriff Marté addressed an issue within the jail he described as personal – graffiti depicting symbols of white power and racial slurs. There was also graffiti depicting a swastika and an anarchist symbol on the jail walls.
Sheriff Marté is one of 14 members of the Community Justice Reform Committee. The sheriff’s office has been providing information to the rest of the group, which includes county commissioners, county council members, and judges letting them know he will be requesting funds to address the issues.
