Oklahoma’s federally designated disability rights agency has opened an investigation into the Tulsa Municipal Jail afterThe Frontier uncovered preventable deaths at the facility.
Disability Rights Oklahoma said The Frontier’s reporting, which found seven deaths over three years at the 70-bed city jail, gave it probable cause to launch the probe. The agency has the authority under federal law to investigate jails and other institutions if there is reason to believe that people with disabilities, including those with severe mental illness, have been subjected to abuse or neglect.
“One death is too many,” said Brian Wilkerson, legal director for Disability Rights Oklahoma. The number of deaths at the small facility in a short period of time was among the factors that prompted the investigation, he said, along with concerns about whether the jail is providing adequate medical care…