A Southern California prison has numerous unsanitary conditions, a health inspection disclosed.
Dozens of violations were reported at the California Rehabilitation Center (CRC) in Norco. They include standing water, cockroach infestations, rodent droppings and wastewater not draining, the Reuters news agency reported.
The findings are reported in a 109-page report obtained by Reuters under a Public Records Act request. The report was prepared as a regular review of prison facilities.
There was no hot water in bathroom sinks, and the dishwashers did not reach the temperature required to ensure sanitation, the report added.
“In the kitchen, raw chicken was stored above cooked halal chicken for Muslim inmates, raising the risk that the raw meat could drip onto the cooked food and contaminate it,” Reuters reported.
State Sen. Loni Hancock, D-Berkeley, called the report “shocking,” and urged closure of the 100-year-old facility, Reuters reported.
CRC houses 2,400 inmates and is considered by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) as necessary bed space to accommodate its overcrowded prison population, Reuters reported.
CDCR spokesperson Deborah Hoffman told Reuters that steps are being taken to improve the facilities’ infrastructure issues and other conditions.
Before becoming a prison, the facility was a naval hospital. Before that, it was a lakeside resort, having originally opened in 1928, according to Reuters.
There have been earlier plans to close CRC, but the federal court order to relieve overcrowding has prevented that from happening, Hoffman said.
