Bradley County Incarcerated Resolutions led a rally Saturday afternoon to draw attention to conditions faced by individuals behind bars and to continue calls for jail reform.
The gathering at Mosby Park in Cleveland was part of a nationwide day of action connected by ringing bells at 4 p.m.
Tiffani Dailey, a founder of Bradley County Incarcerated Resolutions, said the bells were a symbol for people to wake up to the living conditions inside local jails and prisons. People need to know the ongoing issues faced by those in prison, she said.
"They have their own dignity," Dailey said. "They shouldn't be profiled as an inmate or profiled as a criminal."
The group formed in June to begin advocating for better care for those inside the county detention center. Their work protesting in the center's parking lot has received national and international attention, including gathering more than 206,000 signatures for an online petition requesting an investigation of conditions inside the jail such as the use of masks and the availability of cleaning supplies.
The Bradley County Sheriff's Office has repeatedly denied claims of unsanitary conditions inside its facilities.
(READ MORE: Family, friends gather at Bradley County Jail to remember man who died in custody)
The group has also formed a bail fund, similar to the one already operating in Hamilton County by Chattanoogans in Action for Love, Equality and Benevolence in Hamilton County. Jae Carico, an organizer with the group, said the $42,000 raised for the Bradley County fund has helped six individuals already. To be eligible for help from the fund, the person must have a bail under $5,000, have no domestic violence or abuse charges, have no outstanding warrants and have a community contact.
Carico told those gathered that the current moment - with ongoing protests over racism and police brutality - is an opportunity to make lasting change in Bradley County and push back against those running the prison systems.
"They have never been more vulnerable, and we have never been more powerful," he said.
Similar to other local groups, such as I Can't Breathe CHA, the movement in Bradley County is looking for divestment from law enforcement and the incarceration system and investment in programs to help communities, Carico said. With enough support, community programs will make the justice system unnecessary, he said.
The focus on prison safety comes as local centers have seen an outbreak of cases. Around 50 staff and inmates at the Bradley County Detention Center tested positive for COVID-19 earlier this year. Meanwhile, nearly 50 inmates and guards in Hamilton County jails have tested positive for the virus since June.
Alan Guice, an organizer with Chattanoogans in Action for Love, Equality and Benevolence who is in charge of the Hamilton County Bail Fund, said local prisons should move individuals out of confinement for their safety.
"Our jails and for-profit prisons here in Tennessee are woefully unprepared to offer common, everyday medical needs, much less prepare to face the COVID-19 pandemic that we are facing today," Guice said.
Along with continuing to help people with the bail fund, the group is looking to begin a rehabilitation program for people leaving the prison system to help break the cycle of recidivism, Dailey said. Bradley County Incarcerated Resolutions is working with people currently incarcerated, as well as families, to see where the needs are, she said.
Contact Wyatt Massey at wmassey@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6249. Follow him on Twitter @news4mass.