By C1 Staff
DENVER, Colo. — A whistleblower is claiming that numbers reported by the Colorado Department of Corrections about success rates with reducing the number of mentally ill inmates are “overstated.”
KDVR reports that emails from the whistleblower in late December and early January sparked a controversy, causing lawmakers who serve on the state’s Joint Budget Committee to question DOC leaders.
Last year, the ACLU was successful in pushing new legislation through to eliminate the DOC’s policy of placing mentally ill inmates in solitary confinement, forcing the department to remove the inmates from segregation.
But the whistleblower writes that there are still a little more than 200 inmates still locked up for 23 hours a day.
The whistleblower claims that DOC officials were able to keep the mentally ill inmates behind bars by simply claiming they were no longer mentally ill. The whistleblower goes on to claim that those suffering from PTSD, dementia, or mood disorders are no longer classified as having serious mental issues.
The DOC declined a request for interview about the allegations.