Letter to the editor: Jail Oversight Board must do its job on jail deaths

In the event of a death at a county jail, the National Commission on Correctional Health Care requires the following to be done by the jail administration: an administrative review, a clinical mortality review and a psychological autopsy for a death by suicide. The purposes of the reviews are to investigate the cause of death and as importantly develop policies and practices to prevent further deaths.

The Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Standards has identified an average mortality rate for the census size of the Allegheny County Jail to be between two and three deaths a year. Since April 2020, the Allegheny County Jail has had 17 deaths.

The Allegheny County Jail Oversight Board has the statutory responsibility of ensuring the “health and safety” of the residents of the jail. The board needs to step up to the plate and not sit on the sidelines when someone dies at the jail. Our county executive and our warden must open the jail door to the JOB so it can fulfill its statutory responsibilities to provide oversight.

The board must make sure these reviews are being done and provide oversight of them and work with the jail to find ways to limit the exorbitantly high death rate at the jail.

The residents of the jail, the families of the residents and the public deserve nothing less.

John Kenstowicz

Morningside