Thread by @JimmyJenkins

EXCLUSIVE: Blood, Cockroaches and Gigantic Rats - Inspection Reports Reveal Filthy Conditions In Arizona Prison Kitchens kjzz.org/content/168320…

Twelve months of inspection reports conducted at all 16 state prisons in 2020, provided to KJZZ through a records request, detail pest infestation, broken equipment, and frequent use of expired food

The records show that while almost all of the facilities were consistently found to have critical violations, the prison kitchens were given “satisfactory” ratings by oversight agencies, and allowed to continue serving food to incarcerated people.

Bird feathers in ceiling vents, roach infestations in food warmers, rats living in the walls of the dining halls - it goes on and on and on

At the Lewis prison, an inspector made note of a roach problem twice a month for nearly an entire year. By September 2020, the inspector wrote: "Roaches starting to get bad." In every instance, the kitchen was given a “satisfactory” rating.

I found lots of examples of the prisons using expired foods as well, which supports what incarcerated people have been telling me for years, and directly contradicts repeated denials from DOC and Trinity Services Group

.@jalexandriahunt told me she was repeatedly ordered to cook with expired food at the Perryville prison, and instructed to put false expiration dates on ingredients in order to deceive kitchen inspectors:

Hunt said one experience preparing breakfast food stayed with her throughout her time at Perryville - they call it "French Toast Bake" 😬

Most of the employee bathrooms in the prison kitchens were found to be without soap and paper towels - during a pandemic no less. One inspector wrote:

"Restroom was so dirty to the point where it should have been closed for no use at all (this is an ongoing issue)"

.@LongevityGreg was incarcerated in several Arizona prisons over 10 years. He told me many of the facilities at the state prison in Florence were infested with pests:

“When we were eating in the chow hall, you could hear the rodents in the wall"

Goodman said the prisons would also wash and reuse disposable plastic cups:

“Once, I was issued a drinking cup that a previous guy had used as a spit cup for chewing tobacco. It was disgusting. The bottom was yellow and there was actually dried chewing tobacco still in it.”

Several of the reports note that the kitchen workers had been alerted in advance of the inspections.

"Waiting outside for 10 mins to get into the kitchen,” an inspector wrote. “Inmates were cleaning."

Hunt said despite the conditions, "They would give us a ‘satisfactory’ even if they found dead rats. It was like there was a camaraderie between the inspectors and the Trinity employees and the prison employees. So even if the kitchen was a mess, they’d let us get away with it.”

She believes there is a lack of accountability from the prison administrators:

“They act like you’re being unreasonable for wanting a clean eating environment,” Hunt said. “But I know they wouldn’t accept rats and roaches and expired, moldy food in their own homes.”

If you can stomach it, review the records for yourself. We've uploaded thousands of pages of kitchen and warehouse inspection reports from all 16 state prisons here:
kjzz.org/content/168320…

We used @documentcloud to post all the records DOC gave us in response to our request. They're sorted alphabetically by prison at the bottom of the post. Take a look and you'll see the extent of these problems - it's truly systemic