A social worker employed by the inmate division of the Pinellas County Sheriff's Department has resigned after an investigation by the internal affairs division determined that she had allegedly ignored more than 100 requests for psychological and medical help from inmates.
Penny Howland, 58, a six-year veteran of the department, hired during the administration of former sheriff Everett Rice, denied any wrongdoing, stating in a Sept. 8 memo that "I never refused to see a (patient), never did NOT answer my radio, in fact, just the opposite has been said about me".
Howland came under investigation in August after a jail nurse found unanswered inmate requests in a desk used by Howland and after sheriff's administration received an inmate complaint that his requests for assistance had gone unanswered.
Many of the unanswered requests found stashed in Howland's desk contained anguished pleas for help from the inmates, asking for changes in medication and concerns about living conditions. The pleas apparently went unacknowledged and unanswered.