Three family members of inmates at the Arizona State Prison Complex-Yuma have alleged that prison administrators and staff orchestrated threats to discourage inmates from getting COVID-19 tests in order to keep the prison's case numbers low.The Arizona Department of Corrections (ADC) has called the allegations "unsubstantiated."The Phoenix NPR station KJZZ interviewed Stephanie Hale-Perry, the wife of an inmate. Hale-Perry said her husband claimed that the prison's deputy warden, correctional officers and members of the special services investigation unit all met with the "heads," informal inmate leaders, to orchestrate physical threats of violence meant to discourage inmates from getting tested. The heads allegedly threatened to "beat down" any inmates who accepted the nasal swab test.
Prisoners Say They Were Told To Refuse COVID Tests To Keep Rates Low
Three family members of inmates at the Arizona State Prison Complex-Yuma have alleged that prison administrators and staff orchestrated threats to discourage inmates from getting COVID-19 tests in order to keep the prison's case numbers low.The Arizona Department of Corrections (ADC) has called the allegations "unsubstantiated."The Phoenix NPR station KJZZ interviewed Stephanie Hale-Perry, the wife of an inmate. Hale-Perry said her husband claimed that the prison's deputy warden, correctional officers and members of the special services investigation unit all met with the "heads," informal inmate leaders, to orchestrate physical threats of violence meant to discourage inmates from getting tested. The heads allegedly threatened to "beat down" any inmates who accepted the nasal swab test.
