Sheriff Errol D. Toulon, Jr. issued a directive that starting today, March 13, 2020, all volunteer programs operated by outside service providers at the Suffolk County Correctional Facility are temporarily suspended in order to limit the number of people entering the county jails. The Sheriff stated, “By limiting the number of people entering our facilities, we can better protect our staff, inmates, and the general public from community spread of COVID-19.”
There are no cases of coronavirus at the Suffolk County Correctional Facility, but this decision was precipitated to control the potential spread of the illness. On Tuesday, Sheriff Toulon ceased all contact visitation and instituted a policy of non-contact visits. In addition, all high school jail tours were suspended until further notice. Newly arriving inmates are being screened for COVID-19 and segregated from the general population in a separate reception housing area for14 days. Moreover, the jails are being disinfected three times per day, with a heavy cleaning taking place each evening.
