US jails rife with violence, abuse and overcrowding

By KERI BLAKINGER
The Marshall Project/Associated Press

Jails across the U.S. are suffering from overcrowding, violence and abuse. It comes as staffing problems at lockups from New York to California continue to grow and have made long-simmering problems worse. A spate of deaths at New York City’s infamous Rikers Island jail complex has garnered national headlines. But rural and urban lockups from Tennessee to Washington to Georgia are not faring much better. Unlike prisons, most jails are funded and managed locally, so the problems they face can vary widely from one county to the next. Experts who spoke to The Associated Press and The Marshall Project, though, highlighted two problems they’ve seen at jails across the country: too many people incarcerated, and not enough guards.