Horrible conditions, bug infestations, asbestos, black mold problems. Food portions miniscule at…read morebest. Torn up bedding. Should be closed down.

I could not disagree more with Johnny W. I have been a regular at BCP for over 23 years and have…read morefound the accommodations absolutely delightful. Although some of the regulars are a bit shady. This is certainly a place you need to watch wallet. Also be mindful when the showers are crowded, (mind your soap). But all in all the atmosphere is what you would expect from an establishment such as this. The Staff are all well rounded and well versed in all aspects of the business. This would be the preferred stop for any and all who decide to run afoul of the law in Berks County Pa. Always a vacancy and they always leave a light on for you.

The incompetence of this staff is beyond disgusting. Every department is full of people who sit on…read moretheir lazy asses instead of doing the jobs they're paid to do. I would love to show up to work, do absolutely nothing, and still collect a paycheck. Inmate Accounts was my final straw after speaking with a counselor who had the reasoning skills of a five-year-old. If this is what they call rehabilitation, it's a complete joke. Too many COs come across as cold, heartless, and completely unfit for the responsibility they were given. They represent the lowest standard of law enforcement. If you have a loved one in this system, stay involved. Call. Ask questions. Make sure they know someone on the outside cares about them and is paying attention. There's a reason this jail has a revolving door, and the people running it should be ashamed of themselves.

Food was awful and consistently stolen from me from unsavory folks in dew rags. The "top level…read moresuite with veiw" was a 2nd floor cinderblock cage with boogers and semen caked to the wall and curly sqibble hairs carpeting everything. The worst part was that it was supposed to be a single occupancy room but due to an over-booking issue i had to share it with some guy with long girl nails and 3.5 teeth left, and, for some reason, enjoyed standing over me, smelling my worn underwear whilst I slept. The tvs were severely inadequate and had no internet capabilities forcing me to watch basic cable with closed-captions on... huddled with the other guests. As bad as all that was the "recreational room, gym and "spacious" outdoor spance for frolicking and long scenic walks was in fact just a caged in blacktop space measuring 40x40 with a netless basket ball hoop and a table with no weights or machines and 5 sweating muscle bound gang members doing way too many squats in very short gym shorts and harassing anyone who tried to also use the facility. Upon arriving and departing i was forced to strip down to nakedness 1 article of clothing at a time and hand them to a male employee who inspected them and then checked under my testicles and inside my anus for contraband. In all honesty .. I kinda enjoyed that part as it appeared to be a right of passage ritual that all enjoyed in! Overall I didn't enjoyed my all expenses paid county vacation as much as the brochure said I would and would not recommend staying at the. "state-of-the-art" facilities and am going to attempt to get a full or partial refund but I don't have a lot of hope in that endeavor!

My experience from an outsider perspective with a loved one incarcerated…read more.. Listen, I've been in this place before and now someone I love is in for 3 weeks. I was in this place for 3 months. I sat the entire time with a tooth that was cracked in half , causing an abscess and nobody did anything. That's pale in comparison. I think the biggest and most messed up thing this place does, is they determine what medication they're going to keep you on and what medication they're just going to stop giving you COLD TURKEY. They decided to fast-taper a medication without telling the inmate that gave horrendous withdrawal symptoms. He came in on many medications and they just told him "nah you don't need these" and wouldn't give them to him. (No opioids no narcotics, no controlled substance; just medication for depression and nerve pain) I'm sure there's this and that reasoning behind this, but it's VERY DANGEROUS. Apparently the jail nurse knows better than his doctor and psychiatrist. The 20 days he was in there he withdrew so hard that the other inmates thought he was withdrawing from dope. He couldn't eat or sleep or function as a human being. In 20 days he lost 30 pounds. There was a guy in there who got his hand smashed at work and they refused to help him for so long he finally had to go to the hospital with a literal black hand and lost all nerve function. No pain meds. Medical told him to write a request slip. Said they couldn't do anything about it. There was another guy who had a seizure and he collapsed into one of the machines and then slammed his head on the floor. A CO ran over with handcuffs first, then medical strolled in like they were inconvenienced. medical came over and told him to stop shaking if he was so cold while inmates yelled he's having a SEIZURE! he went to medical and came back 45 minutes later and all they did was wheel the wheelchair into the middle of the pod and just left him there. The people in there did things wrong, but not so wrong that they could potentially die. Medical is dangerously inept.

UNIT P - FEMALE WORK RELEASE UNIT…read more We have 17 women on the unit. Out of 17 only 11 go to work. That means while 11 of us are getting up and going to work daily to bring back out paychecks to pay rent the other 6 are sleeping/watching tv/ emptying vending machines, etc. and NOT PAYING RENT but being given the SAME privileges. When addressed with WR management or CO they are told there is "nothing they can do". When we agree to join WR unit we sign a CONTRACT STATING WE AGREE TO ALL THE RULES. Yet only HALF of us are held to that contract. The contract states MAINTAIN EMPLOYMENT- if you are fired or quit your job you are REMOVED from the unit. In the time I have been there, only some people are removed while others are shown favoritism and kept on the unit. Unemployed people who are on our unit are eligible for "cleaning" administration or the unit... except when they are let out of the unit they graze the pavement and peoples cars for cigarettes and lighters and have BEEN CAUGHT stealing from a WORKING WOMANS CAR and not removed from the unit. Remember, this lady that is stealing is not paying rent, while the lady she is stealing from IS. 11 of the working women have jobs that require them to get a good night sleep and to be up early... it is hard to get sleep when the women who do not have jobs that clean are told it has to be done between 11pm and 1am and are not told to keep the noise down. For multiple nights now, we have been woken up by girls screaming at people on the phone OR fighting over who cleans what and who does and doesn't have to clean. This should not be an issue. The people who do not work should be housed together in two rooms, and the working inmates should be kept together. This work release unit is a joke. It is made to make money or the county or the prison and not the inmates they claim to be helping "rebuild their lives". I would be embarrassed if I ran this place.