Prisoner protest held in downtown Durham
DURHAM (WTVD) -- Close to 50 protesters hit the streets of Durham on New Year's Eve. They marched to the Durham County Jail to protest for the prisoners inside.
The group met at CCB Plaza downtown then marched to the jail. Protesters refused to talk to media and instead referred us to a website, amplifyvoices.com. The site seems to be some sort of a comment site detailing what seems to be complaints from prisoners.
In an email to ABC11, protest organizers claimed prisoners are getting two sandwiches for dinner and don't have heat in their cells. To call attention to this they decided to march and bang drums around the jail.
ABC11 reached out to the Durham County Sheriff's Office about the accusations.
"The Sheriff's Office takes great pride in providing humane treatment of detainees in its Detention Facility. Specifically, menu planning and food preparation is conducted pursuant to oversight by a registered dietitian," said Capt. Donald Baker.
"The dietary offerings comply with caloric requirements imposed by the State of North Carolina. Additionally, the Detention Facility honors requests for special dietary needs, such as vegan nutrition. Temperature in the Detention Facility is consistently maintained between 70 and 72 degrees and constantly monitored by Durham County General Services. Recent upgrades to the heating and cooling systems advanced energy efficiency efforts. Moreover, the Detention Facility is inspected twice annually by the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services and the Detention Facility is in compliance with their requirements," he continued.
