Erie County Holding Center

With news that two Erie County jail deputy sheriffs have tested positive for COVID-19, inmate rights advocates circled the Holding Center on Tuesday, beeping car horns and seeking prisoner releases.

The Erie County Sheriff's Department is grappling with the case of a man apprehended Wednesday by Customs at the Peace Bridge on his return from China. "We are taking these measures," said Public Information Officer Scott Zylka regarding the man who was taken from the Peace Bridge to the Holding Center.  "If things again turn the wrong way, it could become a bigger incident than it already is."

Newly-re-elected Erie County Legislature Chair April Baskin said there is a lot for legislators to do this year and she hopes they can work together after a rough election campaign.

Starting Jan. 1, cash bail and pre-trial detention will be eliminated for most misdemeanors and non-violent felonies in New York State. That change has left local criminal justice reform advocates rejoicing and law enforcement officials crying foul.

A new reentry program called Project Blue is a first-of-its-kind partnership to help formerly incarcerated individuals in Erie County transition back into society.

In the wake of two more deaths in the Erie County Holding Center, dozens of protestors from an array of groups were outside the facility Monday. Connell Burrell's death on Friday was the 26th since Sheriff Tim Howard took office in 2005.

Three years ago, 27-year-old India Cummings was at the Erie County Holding Center facing carjacking and other charges. After more than two weeks in custody, she was taken to two successive hospitals and died on Feb. 21, 2016. To memorialize that anniversary, supporters of Cummings are are holding daily protests outside the Holding Center.

The family of India Cummings has filed a new lawsuit against 72 sheriff's deputies at the Erie County Holding Center.

New York State should slash the number of people who are held after arrest because they can't come up with cash bail. That is the message the Erie County Legislature sent to Albany Thursday.

The 2016 death of 27-year-old India Cummings has raised many questions about the care of inmates at the Erie County Holding Center.  As part of our Mental Health Initiative, WBFO’s senior reporter Eileen Buckley finds out how inmates are screened for mental health while held at the jail.

As the lawsuit for the death of India Cummings enters the discovery phase, more details are expected to become public about what a state Commission of Correction report calls a "homicide due to medical neglect."

With the India Cummings death shifting toward a criminal investigation, a crowd turned out Thursday night in the Delavan Grider Community Center to discuss the case.

The public fight over the 2016 death of India Cummings moved to the steps of City Hall Thursday, as activists increase their calls for criminal prosecutions.

A state review board has issued a report on the death of India Cummings, who died at ECMC following her incarceration at the Erie County Holding Center. Ann Venuto, president of the Buffalo & Erie Co. chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, read the report. She says the Cummings case is another example of how most jails are not equipped to care for the mentally ill.

The death of 27-year-old India Cummings after more than two weeks at the Erie County Holding Center in 2016 was in the spotlight at County Hall on Wednesday, with criticism of the care and treatment of inmates there taking center stage.

For two-and-a-half years, the death of India Cummings has  raised questions. Cummings died after spending 17 days at the Erie County Holding Center. Thursday brought another protest outside the Holding Center, in the wake of a state report that said homicide should be listed as the woman's cause of death.

Erie County Legislature Majority Leader April Baskin will hold a special session of the Public Safety Committee on Wednesday to review, line by line, the State Commission of Correction's Medical Review Board report on the death of India Cummings.

The state Office of Mental Health estimates a third of those incarcerated in New York have some type of mental illness. So why are they locked up instead of in a mental health program? Actually, Erie County has become a leader in diverting these offenders from prison. Progress has been slow, but steady, using a national model of law enforcement called Crisis Intervention Teams.

Erie County Sheriff Tim Howard held a fundraiser Tuesday at the Deep South Taco restaurant in downtown Buffalo. Dozens of chanting protestors flanked the entrance as ticket buyers arrived.

The Erie County Sheriff's Office is hailing an accreditation, awarded by a statewide association, for its Jail Management Division. It is an honor that recognizes the county's jail system for meeting a set of standards, but some are raising questions about several deaths and other incidents behind bars.

With the primary in less than three weeks and the November general election soon after, political campaigns are heating up. The two candidates for Erie County Sheriff are making strong complaints about each other.