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St. Louis Inmates Complain It's Too Cold With New A/C Units—After Complaining It Was Too Hot Without Them

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August 1, 2017

Inmates at St. Louis Medium Security Institution, better known as City Workhouse, are complaining that the facility is too cold with the arrival of new temporary air conditioning units, which were installed due to earlier protests that conditions were too hot.

More than $75,000 worth of temporary air conditioning units were delivered last week to City Workhouse and installed after the inmates protested that the institution was too hot, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported Tuesday.

Now that the units have been bought, delivered, and are in use, however, some inmates say that it is too cold in City Workhouse.

"There have been multiple complaints from inmates that the facility is too cold following the city's setting up of temporary air conditioning at the facility," St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson's spokesman, Koran Addo, said.

Addo said that in one instance, an inmate was even sent to administrative segregation after an incident in which he used a broom handle to attempt to disable a vent that was blowing out cold air.

The medium-security institution, which mostly holds those awaiting trial who have not yet been convicted, has been the center of protest in other instances as well. Besides the facility's temperature, inmates have raised issues about alleged abuse from guards and unsanitary conditions.

"A lot of these people are state prisoners and we don't have any say in them being there," Addo said. "But we can be a convener and bring people together to talk about the bail system and how best to handle cases where you have people ... who are not violent criminals, and ask, 'How can we work on a system that's better so people aren't in there languishing because they're poor and can't make bail?'"

Addo says that officials are looking into solutions for how to regulate the temperature in City Workhouse with thermostats.

Published under: Missouri , Prison