TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – High profile and suspicious deaths involving Florida prisoners have led to heavy criticism and some sweeping changes in the Florida Department of Corrections.
The American Civil Liberties Union, along with other human rights advocates, have called for a federal investigation into abuse claims against the DOC, including accusations of cover-ups, bullying and prisoners being murdered.
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The man at the center of the firestorm is DOC Secretary Mike Crews.
"It's unfortunate, but we do have a few that have put us in this situation we're in now," said Crews, who's had the top job for nearly two years.
Another death case gained national attention last week, with prominent civil rights attorneys representing the family of a woman who claimed to be threatened by guards, and then turned up dead.
"Do you trust that same institution to now do a fair investigation?" attorney Ben Crump asked.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is currently looking into more than 100 suspicious deaths at Florida prisons. Crews said he understands why people sound the alarm.
"If you are a family member that has someone incarcerated with us that has supposedly been subjected to this, yes, I'm going to be concerned, too," Crews said. "What I want those individuals to understand, though, is this: If they have concerns, they need to voice them to us."
Crews said the new steps the agency is implementing will work
An ombudsman will now be used to work with mentally ill inmates. Nearly 20 percent of Florida prisoners have been diagnosed with a mental health condition.
"It's the first of its kind in the country, and this will hopefully not only give the inmates a better level to be able to respond to when they have concerns and when they have issues they want to discuss," Crews said.
The DOC said more than 2,700 staffers have already been retrained on crisis management. Crews traveled to every state facility over the past two months, and the department fired more than 40 employees, some relating to abuse allegations.