Letter to the editor: Leg shackle referendum should be reviewed

At the recent Alle­gheny County Jail Oversight Board meeting, Allegheny County Councilwoman Bethany Hallam showed support for sheriffs taking over inmate hospital trips. They voted in favor of studying feasibility. She is vocally against corrections officers using leg shackles on inmates at the hospital but not sheriffs. This flip-flop is not about shackles then, just the county employee using them.

I believe this prejudice against corrections officers is unfair. No lawsuit ever claimed we used leg shackles inappropriately at the hospital. The warden’s own testimony that he saw “no empirical evidence” that leg shackles prevent escapes is mind-blowing. No attempts prior to the 2021 ballot referendum that banned leg shackles; now we have 14 since 2024.

The sheriffs need more manpower, increasing overtime, at a far higher cost to the taxpayer. All seemingly due to a bias toward correction officers who have done this work since 1948.

If leg shackles are cruel and unusual and leave the possibility open to being used inappropriately, then why shackle anybody going to/from court? Why shackle them for transport to other facilities or extradition? I would imagine it’s to reduce an escape attempt. You don’t need “empirical evidence” to tell you that. It’s common sense.

Despite claims from Hallam and the Abolitionist Law Center that we are trying to “overturn the will of the voters,” we are following the letter of the law that permits a referendum to be reviewed after two years.

Brian Englert

Shaler

The writer is a corrections officer at the Allegheny County Jail and president of the Allegheny County Prison Employee Independent Union.