{"id":449389,"date":"2026-09-01T00:50:12","date_gmt":"2026-09-01T00:50:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/449389\/"},"modified":"2026-09-01T00:50:12","modified_gmt":"2026-09-01T00:50:12","slug":"sf-jail-survey-finds-injuries-bad-food-and-barriers-to-medical-and-legal-aid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/449389\/","title":{"rendered":"SF Jail Survey Finds Injuries, Bad Food and Barriers to Medical and Legal Aid"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>A new survey found that nearly one-third of respondents reported being seriously injured in San Francisco jails.<\/p>\n<p>Aug 31, 2026<\/p>\n<p>Updated 5:13 pm PT<\/p>\n<p><img src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/20251124_SF-JAIL-RALLY_GH-18-KQED.jpg\"   width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" alt=\"\" loading=\"eager\" decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\"\/><\/p>\n<p>The emblem of the San Francisco Sheriff\u2019s Department is seen on the exterior of the San Francisco County Jail on Nov. 24, 2025. A new San Francisco jail survey reveals concerns over safety, nutrition, healthcare and attorney access. \u00a0(Gustavo Hernandez\/KQED)<\/p>\n<p class=\"blocks-v1-Paragraph-__Paragraph__paragraph wp-block wp-block-paragraph container\">Over the past 10 years, Joanna Hernandez has learned that even a small thing can become a challenge when a loved one is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kqed.org\/news\/tag\/jails\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">behind bars<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"blocks-v1-Paragraph-__Paragraph__paragraph wp-block wp-block-paragraph container\">Her son has been held in San Francisco County Jail since July 2016 and is set for trial in September. A tooth ached without dental care. Lunch trays served cold. Deputies ridiculed him, he told his mother.<\/p>\n<p class=\"blocks-v1-Paragraph-__Paragraph__paragraph wp-block wp-block-paragraph container\">And for her 9-year-old grandson, seeing his father has meant months of emails to command staff and visits canceled without warning.<\/p>\n<p class=\"blocks-v1-Paragraph-__Paragraph__paragraph wp-block wp-block-paragraph container\">\u201cThey\u2019re still human beings,\u201d Hernandez said. \u201cThey deserve compassionate medical care and mental health support. And I mean, dignity for crying out loud.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"blocks-v1-Paragraph-__Paragraph__paragraph wp-block wp-block-paragraph container\">A new San Francisco <a to=\"https:\/\/media.api.sf.gov\/documents\/SF_Jail_Survey_2026_Report.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/media.api.sf.gov\/documents\/SF_Jail_Survey_2026_Report.pdf\">report suggests Hernandez\u2019s son\u2019s experience is far from isolated.<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/ReadingtoInmates.jpg\" alt=\"Dr. Carolyn Sufrin reads to female inmates at San Francisco Jail from her book, 'Jailcare.'\" class=\"wp-image-11591983\"  \/>Dr. Carolyn Sufrin reads to female inmates at San Francisco County Jail from her book, \u2018Jailcare.\u2019\u00a0(Marisa Lagos\/KQED)<\/p>\n<p class=\"blocks-v1-Paragraph-__Paragraph__paragraph wp-block wp-block-paragraph container\">The survey of the city\u2019s jail population, conducted by the San Francisco Department of Police Accountability, reported poor conditions across nearly every aspect of daily life, including nutrition, safety, access to sunlight, family visitation, medical care and contact with attorneys.<\/p>\n<p class=\"blocks-v1-Paragraph-__Paragraph__paragraph wp-block wp-block-paragraph container\">Nearly one-third reported being seriously injured while held in custody.<\/p>\n<p class=\"blocks-v1-Paragraph-__Paragraph__paragraph wp-block wp-block-paragraph container\">The survey was offered on jail tablets from March 18 to April 24. Nearly 500 people completed the survey of the roughly 1,200 people incarcerated at the time. DPA designed the 78-question survey in collaboration with\u00a0the Sheriff\u2019s Office and other city departments.<\/p>\n<p class=\"blocks-v1-Paragraph-__Paragraph__paragraph wp-block wp-block-paragraph container\">\u201cI hope that this sheds light and provides an avenue for a lot of other neighboring counties and states to review and look at what\u2019s happening inside of their county jails,\u201d said Paul Briley, who spent about two months in a San Francisco county jail and now leads nonprofit Legal Services for Prisoners with Children. \u201cSo that the conditions of confinement are not depriving people of their basic humanity.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"blocks-v1-Paragraph-__Paragraph__paragraph wp-block wp-block-paragraph container\">More than half of women surveyed said they felt unprotected. This followed calls from advocates earlier this year to investigate reports that more than <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kqed.org\/news\/12065232\/advocates-demand-investigation-after-women-say-sf-jail-deputies-recorded-strip-searches\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">a dozen women incarcerated<\/a> at a San Francisco jail were strip-searched in front of male deputies and recorded on body-worn cameras.<\/p>\n<p class=\"blocks-v1-Paragraph-__Paragraph__paragraph wp-block wp-block-paragraph container\">Briley said he became an advocate after seeing the conditions in county jails: 4 a.m. cold showers, wearing other people\u2019s dirty clothing and an intake unit where meals are cold and no one goes outside.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/009_KQED_SheriffPressConference_06082023-qut.jpg\" alt=\"A sheriff in uniform speaks from a podium.\" class=\"wp-image-11968000\"  \/>Sheriff Paul Miyamoto speaks during a news conference in Civic Center in San Francisco on June 8, 2023.\u00a0(Beth LaBerge\/KQED)<\/p>\n<p class=\"blocks-v1-Paragraph-__Paragraph__paragraph wp-block wp-block-paragraph container\">\u201cIt sparked a fire inside of me to have to address this from the outside,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"blocks-v1-Paragraph-__Paragraph__paragraph wp-block wp-block-paragraph container\">Food was the lowest-rated section in the survey. Nearly two-thirds said meals do not meet their nutritional needs at all.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"blocks-v1-Paragraph-__Paragraph__paragraph wp-block wp-block-paragraph container\">Angela Chan, assistant chief attorney at the Public Defender\u2019s Office, said she watched a client receive a lunch of two small pieces of bread, a ball of unidentifiable meat and a few dried baby carrots.<\/p>\n<p class=\"blocks-v1-Paragraph-__Paragraph__paragraph wp-block wp-block-paragraph container\">\u201cThat\u2019s supposed to keep that adult individual full and healthy for half a day,\u201d Chan said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"blocks-v1-Paragraph-__Paragraph__paragraph wp-block wp-block-paragraph container\">She said clients have left custody with high blood pressure and other conditions they did not arrive with.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"blocks-v1-Paragraph-__Paragraph__paragraph wp-block wp-block-paragraph container\">Miyamoto said the menu is vetted against state standards and reviewed by a nutritionist.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"blocks-v1-Paragraph-__Paragraph__paragraph wp-block wp-block-paragraph container\">\u201cIt may not seem tasty or healthy at some times, but we definitely have guardrails,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"blocks-v1-Paragraph-__Paragraph__paragraph wp-block wp-block-paragraph container\">Roughly one in three said they could not reach their attorney by phone, video or in person, and 40% said lockdowns interfered with legal visits. Chan said her staff sometimes wait hours to see a client and are told no one is available to bring them.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"blocks-v1-Paragraph-__Paragraph__paragraph wp-block wp-block-paragraph container\">\u201cIt\u2019s a matter of priority,\u201d she said, adding that lockdowns are not a lawful basis to deny a legal visit.<\/p>\n<p class=\"blocks-v1-Paragraph-__Paragraph__paragraph wp-block wp-block-paragraph container\">Miyamoto said delays happen but denied intentionally \u201cpreventing people from seeing their attorneys.\u201d He cited the difficulty of moving people between San Bruno and downtown courts and the mismatch between jail phone hours and public defenders\u2019 court calendars.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/260522-JAILSEARCHSUIT-25-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12085080\"  \/>San Francisco Public Defender Mano Raju speaks during a rally outside of San Francisco County Jail 2 on May 22, 2026, one year after women incarcerated at the jail alleged they were subjected to illegal strip searches by sheriff\u2019s deputies in a women\u2019s housing unit.\u00a0(Beth LaBerge\/KQED)<\/p>\n<p class=\"blocks-v1-Paragraph-__Paragraph__paragraph wp-block wp-block-paragraph container\">Briley said he was most surprised by how long some people have been inside. The survey found 39 respondents had spent five to 10 years in the jails and 15 for more than a decade.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"blocks-v1-Paragraph-__Paragraph__paragraph wp-block wp-block-paragraph container\">\u201cIn a county jail,\u201d he said. \u201cThis is not a prison.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"blocks-v1-Paragraph-__Paragraph__paragraph wp-block wp-block-paragraph container\">As a next step, the Sheriff\u2019s Office has asked the Jail Justice Coalition for recommendations.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"blocks-v1-Paragraph-__Paragraph__paragraph wp-block wp-block-paragraph container\">\u201cI don\u2019t think this is just a list of complaints,\u201d said Anne Stuhldreher, senior adviser in the city\u2019s office of the Treasurer, which helped develop the survey. \u201cIt\u2019s really a list that lays out, OK, these are the challenges that we really need to work on \u2014 to fix.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"blocks-v1-Paragraph-__Paragraph__paragraph wp-block wp-block-paragraph container\">Asked what she would change right now, Hernandez said she wants to be able to hold her son. There should be a rule, she said, that anyone held longer than a year gets at least one hug a month from their mother.<\/p>\n<p class=\"blocks-v1-Paragraph-__Paragraph__paragraph wp-block wp-block-paragraph container\">\u201cThe human touch between a loved one and an incarcerated loved one can do so much,\u201d she said. \u201cImagine what that can do to his mental health.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"blocks-v1-Paragraph-__Paragraph__paragraph wp-block wp-block-paragraph container\">KQED\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kqed.org\/author\/jlara\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Juan Carlos Lara<\/a> contributed to this report.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A new survey found that nearly one-third of respondents reported being seriously injured in San Francisco jails. Aug&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":449390,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[101,103,102,104,106,105],"class_list":["post-449389","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-francisco","tag-san-francisco","tag-san-francisco-headlines","tag-san-francisco-news","tag-sf","tag-sf-headlines","tag-sf-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/449389","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=449389"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/449389\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/449390"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=449389"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=449389"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=449389"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}