In New York prisons, widespread package room complaints go unresolved
Nabeeha Anwar | Illustration Editor
Package room complaints ranged from missing and spoiled packages to “abuse of power” by package room staff.
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Seven months after the coronavirus pandemic hit Sing Sing Correctional Facility, a committee of incarcerated people met with administrators to discuss what was going wrong.
First on the agenda was the spotty TV programs. Second was the damaged packages. Then the committee repeated a request they had made two months earlier: security cameras in the package room.
At the previous meeting in August, the committee said package room procedures were a “growing concern” at the all-men’s maximum-security prison in Westchester County, records show. Food started to spoil as packages were held for up to a week. Items went missing after staff checked boxes for contraband. Earlier in the summer, as a COVID-19 outbreak swept thro