“A jail is not equipped to be an emergency room,” said Joel Pruce of the Montgomery County Jail Coalition, a community organization pushing for reform at the facility. “People come in with medical needs that are extreme and significant, and a jail is not equipped to deal with them.

“I think everybody bears responsibility. At the end of the day, [it’s] the sheriff, the county commissioners, county administrators and Naphcare.”

Naphcare, a private company headquartered in Alabama, holds a $13m contract with Montgomery county to provide mental and physical healthcare to people housed at the jail.

cops + for profit healthcare