Allegheny County Jail
PINJ’s investigations into the jail and its conditions
Latest STORIES
- Letters Home: A teacher and former student connect from prison, Part 3
- Letters Home: A teacher and former student connect from prison, Part 2
- Letters Home: A teacher and former student connect from prison, Part 1
PINJ has paid particular attention to the Allegheny County Jail throughout the pandemic, as virus mitigation forced incarcerated individuals to remain in their cells for 23 hours a day, illness and staff shortages among incarcerated kitchen workers caused meals to be limited at times to baloney sandwiches prompting an investigation by the County Controller and severe staff shortages in the medical and mental health staffs, reduced treatments and programs for the incarcerated. PINJ has tracked the deaths of those in custody of the Allegheny County Jail for two years, culminating in a three-part series.
MORE ALLEGHENY COUNTY JAIL COVERAGE
Letters Home: A teacher and former student connect from prison, Part 3
Michael Bennett and Denzel Glover Editor’s Note: This is part of our series exploring the juvenile justice landscape in Pittsburgh with a focus on …
Letters Home: A teacher and former student connect from prison, Part 2
Michael Bennett and Denzel Glover Editor’s Note: This is part of our series exploring the juvenile justice landscape in Pittsburgh with a focus on …
Letters Home: A teacher and former student connect from prison, Part 1
by Michael Bennett and Denzel Glover Editor’s Note: This is part of our series exploring the juvenile justice landscape in Pittsburgh with a focus …
“Beyond Walls” Film Event at City of Asylum on December 5
Jody DiPerna On Tuesday, December 5, City of Asylum will present a collection of short films through Beyond Walls, followed by a conversation moderated …
Allegheny County Jail still houses kids despite federal legislation aimed at juvenile justice reform
The number of kids at the Allegheny County Jail went up — nearly two years after a federal act aimed at removing kids from …
Stripped: Unveiling the unseen trauma of strip searching juveniles in the Allegheny County Jail
Tanisha Long Editor's Note: This essay is part of our series exploring the juvenile justice landscape in Pittsburgh with a focus on education and …
Here’s how we created Pa.’s first-ever jail-death database
Brittany Hailer and Joshua Vaughn Editor’s Note: This investigation was supported by a grant from the Pulitzer Center. To create Pennsylvania’s first-ever database of in-custody deaths, …
How many deaths occurred in your county’s jail? See our database
Brittany Hailer and Joshua Vaughn Editor’s Note: This investigation was supported by a grant from the Pulitzer Center. The lack of proper reporting by Pennsylvania jails …
Deaths in Pa. jails are undercounted. Our investigation found dozens of hidden cases
Brittany Hailer and Joshua Vaughn Editor’s Note: This investigation was supported by a grant from the Pulitzer Center. Jeff Lagrotteria and Tina Talotta waited 30 minutes …
Allegheny County Jail health services administrator resigns
Brittany Hailer Allegheny County Jail Health Services Administrator Ashley Brinkman has resigned from her position according to internal emails obtained by the Pittsburgh Institute …
Choking death in Allegheny County Jail ruled an accident by medical examiner
By Brittany Hailer A man accidentally choked to death in the Allegheny County Jail, according to the Allegheny County Medical Examiner. Douglas Bonomo, 59, …
Third Incarcerated Person Dies Following Detox Protocol at Allegheny County Jail
Brittany Hailer A third incarcerated person has died after being placed on the Allegheny County Jail’s detox protocol this year. Zachary Sahm, 27, was …
Records released from Allegheny Medical Examiner after court ruling reveal full autopsy was not performed for incarcerated man
Brittany Hailer Daniel Pastorek died over two years ago, on Thanksgiving Day, 2020, in a mental health unit in the Allegheny County Jail. He …
Director of PINJ sues Allegheny County over First Amendment claim
Attorneys from the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press and the Yale Law School Media Freedom and Information Access Clinic sued Allegheny County, …
Allegheny County Jail warden announces retirement
By Brittany Hailer After over ten years at the helm, Allegheny County Jail Warden Orlando Harper announced his retirement on Tuesday. His last day …
Allegheny County quietly settles lawsuit with banned “corrections special operations” vendor CSAU-1 for full amount
A nearly $215,000 payment came despite still unanswered questions over Joseph Garcia’s training methods, credentials, and scope of work at the Allegheny County Jail …
Man awaiting treatment at state hospital dies in Allegheny County Jail
Brittany Hailer Update: Douglas Bonomo, 59, was found unresponsive in the Allegheny County Jail on Sunday, according to the Allegheny County Medical Examiner. The …
PINJ event to launch new book, ‘Death in Custody,’ at Trace Brewing
by Jody DiPerna On Thursday, September 28 at 6:30 p.m., Roger A. Mitchell, Jr and Jay Aronson, authors of "Death in Custody" will read …
Commonwealth Court orders Allegheny County to provide autopsy records to journalists
Pittsburgh Institute for Nonprofit Journalism Over two years after an initial public records request for the autopsy of an incarcerated man who died at …
Survey alleges staffing shortage at Allegheny County Jail threatens healthcare employee licensure
Healthcare employees say health services administrator unqualified to make patient decisions Matt Glover An Allegheny County Jail healthcare staff job satisfaction survey presented at …
County Officials Release Few Details On a Holiday Weekend Death at the Allegheny County Jail
Details are scarce about the death of an incarcerated man at the Allegheny County Jail over the July 4 weekend. The Allegheny County Medical …
Ex-wife questions death of Martin Bucek, Allegheny County Jail resident with psychiatric disability
When Allegheny County police officers knocked on Dolly Bucek’s door on July 3, they brought news of her ex-husband who she hadn’t heard from …
Recent focus on the deaths of incarcerated individuals at the Allegheny County Jail raises questions: Are all deaths reported? And what details are released?
Earlier this month, Martin Bucek, 55, was found unresponsive in his cell at the Allegheny County Jail and transported to UPMC Mercy, where he …
Jail Oversight Board member Chelsea Wagner describes “a real veil of secrecy” around deaths reported at the Allegheny County Jail
County Controller Chelsea Wagner, a member of the Allegheny County Jail Oversight Board, said today that the handling of deaths at the jail represents …
Allegheny County Controller’s office to investigate allegations of inadequate meals, food shortages tied to kitchen staff COVID cases
According to interviews of incarcerated persons and affidavits shared with the Pittsburgh Institute for Nonprofit Journalism (PINJ), food issues at the Allegheny County Jail …
Three deaths in one month at Allegheny County Jail
Three incarcerated persons have died in Allegheny County Jail (ACJ) custody so far this September. The most recent, Justin Brady, is the second member …
Fifth death reported by the Allegheny County Jail this year
Another individual incarcerated at the Allegheny County Jail has died. Paul Allen, 55, died at UPMC Mercy Hospital on Saturday, October 9 after being …
“I am still on edge” — one incarcerated man’s experience in the extended Allegheny County Jail lockdown
Corey Durrett-King was released from the Allegheny County Jail in May and still suffers from the effects of the 23-and-one lockdown that keeps the …
Allegheny County Jail called an “outlier” for its continued ‘23-and-one’ practice
During the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown, people the world over saw their lives shrink into confined spaces. While the terms of that confinement sometimes felt …
Three years in solitary confinement: An open letter from the Allegheny County Jail
James Byrd has been held in the Allegheny County Jail’s men’s solitary confinement unit for over three years.
COVID-19, Rodents, Unpaid Labor: A Year In The Allegheny County Jail Kitchen
By Brittany Hailer This story first appeared in the Pittsburgh Current on May 3, 2021. The Pittsburgh Current converted to The Pittsburgh Institute for …
Incarcerated person dies at Allegheny County Jail
By Brittany Hailer Roger Millspaugh, 74, died in the Allegheny County Jail on Dec. 22 according to the Allegheny County Medical Examiner. Millspaugh was …
Allegheny County Jail reports nearly 300 incarcerated persons in solitary confinement after county voters banned practice
By Brittany Hailer The Allegheny County Jail was supposed to end most uses of solitary confinement on Dec 5 as a result of a …
Recreation time at the Allegheny County jail means being handcuffed to a table for four hours in the women’s acute mental health unit
Brittany Hailer A woman incarcerated at the Allegheny County Jail mental health unit said she spends four hours a day –the entirety of her …
At the same time the Allegheny County Jail returns to 23-and-one lockdown, more than three dozen corrections officers test positive for COVID-19
Medical staff is also short, with reports of just one nurse available at times By Brittany Hailer The Allegheny County Jail is once again …
County officials investigate accounts given by the incarcerated about conditions at the jail. Was it investigation or intimidation?
By Brittany Hailer Allegheny County Police Superintendent Christopher Kearns and County Jail Warden Orlando Harper on Friday released the initial findings of an investigation …
Incarcerated person dies following incident at Allegheny County Jail
By Brittany Hailer Paul Spisak, 77, died Sunday in a hospital after the court released him from Allegheny County Jail custody following an incident …
A death in a Allegheny County Jail exposes COVID’s hidden toll
Brittany Hailer This story first appeared in the Pittsburgh Current in December 2020. For days, members of the Allegheny County Jail Oversight Board did …
Medical emergency in the Allegheny County Jail results in the thirteenth death since April 2020
As with other jail deaths, few details have been made available By Brittany Hailer Another man incarcerated at the Allegheny County Jail has died …
Thirteen men died after going to the Allegheny County Jail. Here are their stories.
By Brittany Hailer Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic two years ago, 13 men incarcerated at the Allegheny County Jail have died, the …