Multiple allegations of abuse against inmates at the Allegheny County Jail, including its use of solitary confinement, were denied by jail leadership on Friday.
In a press briefing, Chief Deputy Warden Jason Beasom challenged claims by inmates that they were not receiving their full four hours of recreation time, which they said was often canceled due to short staffing.
Those claims were released by the Abolitionist Law Center earlier this week after it conducted interviews with seven inmates.
In addition, some inmates said officers were intimidating them with guns that shoot non-lethal rubber bullets — which were banned last year in a voter-backed referendum.
In wake of the claims, the ACJ conducted an investigation with the county’s police department, which was detailed in Friday’s conference.
County Police Superintendent Chris Kearns said the investigation found that four of the seven inmate statements given to an Abolitionist Law Center lawyer contained “errors and false statements,” and were “misrepresented.”
Superintendent Kearns said it interviewed six of the seven inmates involved, and that the interviews were voluntary.
In a statement released following the meeting, Superintendent Kearns said the internal affairs unit found that some of the inmates interviewed denied making certain claims, didn’t remember making them, or stated that they instead had only heard about abusive incidents.
If their statements were true, however, he said “the allegations could have...
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