Safety concerns after Tucson prison violence: Inmate's wife speaks out about issues

Yahoo

24-05-2025

The Brief
The wife of an inmate at the Arizona State Prison Complex in Tucson is worried about her husband's safety after videos of a fight were uncovered by FOX 10.
While she acknowledges that prison staff have shown care in their work, there are not enough resources for prisoners to get the help they need.
In addition to fears of increased violence, she also criticized the health and nutrition plans at the prison.
TUCSON, Ariz. - We're hearing from the wife of an inmate serving time at the state prison in Tucson, where inmates were recently caught on camera beating another inmate with padlocks.
This woman wanted her identity to be hidden, but was open about what she sees when she visits her husband in prison.
While he was not involved in the recent inmate-on-inmate attack, she is concerned for his safety and the safety of others on prison grounds.
What they're saying
"I wanted to throw up. I wanted to scream. I wanted to cry," said the wife of an inmate in the Arizona State Prison Complex in Tucson.
She says seeing an inmate-on-inmate attack caught on camera keeps her up at night.
"I'm deathly afraid that I'm going to get a call one day and they say that my husband's been beaten to death. The inmates are literally running the show."
Arizona Department of Corrections Director Ryan Thornell told Fox 10 in an exclusive sit-down that clips like the one circulating last week detract from department efforts.
"It's really trying to paint a picture that our staff don't care or that our staff are non-responsive, which is not the case," Thornell said.
The inmate's wife says from what she's seen during visits, prison staff does care.
"The guards that I've met and that I've had to deal with face-to-face, they're amazing people. They've helped me and they've been compassionate and kind and personable. I don't think that it's a lack of care, I honestly think that it's a lack of staffing and it's a lack of means," she said.
Thornell and the DOC acknowledge staffing issues and proposed a 15% increase in correctional officer pay to the state legislature, among other incentives, to try to retain and recruit staff.
This wife says more needs to be done before more inmates or staff are hurt.
"You're creating a hot soup in that prison. A hot, nasty soup, right? You have people that have malnutrition, mal-medical assistance, mal-mental assistance, and then you also create an environment where you don't have enough security or guards to control these people, and they know it and they take advantage of it," she said.
Big picture view
Thornell says improvements are happening, but the process takes time.
We asked Thornell what his message is to people who have a loved on in prison who might be nervous after seeing the padlock fight.
"My message really is that we're doing everything we can, and they have my assurance that we are doing everything that we can," Thornell responded.
We've covered lawsuits against the department regarding health care, and the department has said they've made strides in many areas of health care for inmates, but this woman says she feels the nutrition plan and other health care protocols are still inadequate and believes they only aggravate issues at these complexes.