Before sunrise on June 24, a power substation fire cut electricity to the system that cools the Cuyahoga County jail in downtown Cleveland. Outside, the temperature crept toward 100. Stale, humid air thickened in the concrete high-rise jail.
Twelve hours into the all-day power outage, county officials scrambled to deliver mobile cooling units, industrial fans, ice and water for the more than 1,500 incarcerated people and employees inside. Paramedics took one correctional officer who was ill from the heat but no incarcerated people to the hospital, a county spokesperson said.
While county administrators downplay the impact of a day without air conditioning in the poorly ventilated jail, those inside told The Marshall Project – Cleveland of dangerous conditions, medical emergencies and delays in getting released that were fueled by staff call-offs…