Public safety concerns prompt council referral of ordinance on leg shackles for hospital trips

Allegheny County Council heard public testimony Wednesday that a 2023 jail referendum limiting confinement practices had an unintended consequence: callers said it prevented correction officers from using leg shackles during inmate hospital transports, creating public-safety risks.

The council introduced an ordinance that would amend section 205 of the Allegheny County Code "on the use of solitary confinement in Allegheny County Jail to allow for the use of leg shackles on hospital runs" (agenda item 13670-25) and referred the measure to the Committee on Public Safety for further review.

The concern was voiced during the public-comment period by John Kenstowitz, who said voters did not know the referendum would affect leg restraints in hospital emergency rooms and urged council to revisit parts of the referendum using the agenda-initiative process in the county's home rule charter. "If this is all that voters saw regarding the referendum, they had no idea what they were voting for," Kenstowitz said.

Brian Englert, president of the correctional officers' union at the Allegheny County Jail, told council the referendum produced "a sharp rise in escape attempts from Allegheny County Jail inmates during hospital details" and said the jail is currently the only county jail in Pennsylvania whose correction staff are not permitted to use leg restraints during hospital details in public. "This creates a serious public-safety risk for our communities, hospital staff, other inmates, and correction officers," Englert said.

Englert told the council that moving hospital details to the sheriff's office would increase costs and raise other operational problems; he said the union's preferred approach is a more "discerning" policy that includes medical-provider assessments at the jail.

Council members did not vote on policy changes Wednesday; the ordinance (13670-25) was read into the record and formally referred to the public-safety committee for study. No motion to adopt a final policy was recorded at the meeting.

Council staff and speakers also described data and operational details during public comment: Englert said the jail experienced an unusual number of escape attempts over a recent 18-month period and noted the county is the only one in the state's 62 county jails restricted in this way. Kenstowitz asked for a meeting with the county executive to present officers' evidence and policy concerns.

The referral means the Committee on Public Safety will hold hearings or briefings before any ordinance would advance to a second reading or a final vote.

The record contains public testimony and the ordinance referral; council members did not adopt any ordinance change at the meeting.