Oh, Fulton County: A jail with locks that don’t work (Updated)
Stories like this one from today’s AJC are infuriating to me:
For all the tens of millions of dollars that taxpayers pour into the Fulton County jail every year, the lockup can’t perform the basic function of keeping inmates locked up in cells.
The 23-year-old jail has such shoddy door locks that inmates can jam them with soap, toilet paper, shards of cloth or other trash and leave their cells at will. Motor-operated sliding doors on the maximum security levels can be jimmied open with pieces of cardboard.
This year’s Fulton County budget includes $68.1 million for the jail. Since a 2006 federal court order to improve security at the overcrowded jail, the county has spent more than $50 million to house inmates elsewhere and an estimated $86 million more, including interest, to renovate the facility.
And yet, the locks on the $@^*@&! cells don’t even work properly.
Consider stories like this one as you read about Georgia Republicans’ plans to shrink Fulton County’s impact on residents’ lives on the way to breaking it up. The kind of incompetence on display at the jail demands action from someone.
*No link; for now, the story is available online only for subscribers to our iPad app or E-Edition. I’ll update this post if that changes. (The full story is now online. Also, the headline has been changed from the original “Only in Fulton County …”)
– By Kyle Wingfield
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105 comments Add your comment
grated
May 17th, 2012
4:54 pm
Kyle is the one who belongs behind bars. And I don’t mean bars of soap, neither nor.
Is it Fulton?
May 17th, 2012
5:05 pm
Kyle Wingfield
May 17th, 2012
2:10 pm
So I change the name based on response or topic du jour. Don’t like it? You work for the AJC – have them change it.
I still find it ridiculous that you would try to link faulty equipment to the Republican push for Milton county, don’t lay any blame on the equipment provider, and then cite this as an “Only Fulton” issue when it is clearly not. I see why you support Newt.
Lil' Barry Bailout (Revised Downward)
May 17th, 2012
5:09 pm
Hard to believe government, and one run by oh-so-superior-intelligent Democrats, could be so incompetent.
Jefferson
May 17th, 2012
5:39 pm
Vote them out if you don’t like them.
Kyle Wingfield
May 17th, 2012
5:42 pm
Is it Fulton?: Trust me, efforts to change it are in the works.
But you still aren’t getting what I’m saying: My beef is with the fact the county has known for more than a decade that this is a problem, has spent hundreds of millions of dollars on this facility, and yet we still don’t have a jail with locks that work. The equipment might or might not have been faulty when it was built — the fact that this is a 23-year-old jail and the problem has existed about 10 years suggests it is a problem that developed over time — but it isn’t working now. This is precisely the kind of incompetence that makes some people want to split off into Milton County — although, as I noted in an earlier comment, I am skeptical about that plan.
As for the “Only in Fulton” bit — I’ve changed the headline. But I note that Cutty has yet to produce the links I requested, and I’ve not found the same information in my own searches.
Lil' Barry Bailout (Revised Downward)
May 17th, 2012
6:17 pm
Vote them out if you don’t like them.
——–
I can’t, I live in a part of Georgia whose leaders have functional brain stems!
Rafe Hollister
May 17th, 2012
6:28 pm
Ann Rant
You are right, all counties have problems, just not as persistent and pernicious as Fulton. 23 years of locks that do not work in a jail is criminal. In other counties, someone would have come up with a chain and a padlock in about 5 minutes for immediate security and ordered someone to replace or fix the locks. They certainly would not sit around for 23 years letting convicts open and close their own cell doors.
BTW, many of the 158 other more efficient counties, like most of S GA, are majority black and have country governments controlled or partially controlled by black Americans. So, take those distorted glasses off and see the world as is, and not as you “feel” it is.
Aquagirl
May 17th, 2012
7:59 pm
In other counties, someone would have come up with a chain and a padlock in about 5 minutes for immediate security and ordered someone to replace or fix the locks.
I see we have somebody on hand with expertise in corrections. Yes, I’m sure it’s that simple, and somebody is just too stupid to go buy a padlock.
Jails everywhere are overcrowded and falling apart. That’s why the Republican dominated Legislature and softie Republican Governor are easing up on the jail ‘em all philosophy.
I’m not surprised some of the doors don’t lock. Other jails have stuffed prisoners into bays or open areas that don’t lock at all. Give the conditions and the constant lack of money keeping prisoners inside the walls may be a higher priority. This isn’t anything particularly new or shocking. Catchy headline though.
Samantha
May 17th, 2012
8:10 pm
Let’s have Fulton Country politcians run on the ” I am not surprised that jail doors don’t lock”. Or. run on the “you just think we should run an efficient jail becasue we are black” campaign.
The sad truth is that the politicians could win on those platforms in the county.
But they cant shop that garbage to the court.
Fred ™
May 17th, 2012
8:37 pm
Kyle Wingfield
May 17th, 2012
5:42 pm
As for the “Only in Fulton” bit — I’ve changed the headline. But I note that Cutty has yet to produce the links I requested, and I’ve not found the same information in my own searches.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Really? And what are you “searching” for? yak dung or something? Cause I found 16,100,000 results for faulty jail locks in 0.33 seconds. Yeah I know, I’m not Cutty but just damn Kyle. I can see why you voted for the morally bankrupt Newt Gingrich. Don’cha just hope your little girls meet a man like him to fall in love with when they grow up?
http://www.google.com/search?q=Faulty+jail+locks&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a
Aquagirl
May 17th, 2012
8:40 pm
Let’s have Fulton Country politcians run on the ” I am not surprised that jail doors don’t lock”. Or. run on the “you just think we should run an efficient jail becasue we are black” campaign.
An inmate escaped from Bibb County jail in 2009 by using a flip-flop to open a temporary cell door. Maybe the Sheriff there can run on a “I AM surprised jail doors don’t lock” theme. Along with the “I have no jailers because they’re all in military service” theme, and the “damn State is freeloading on my jail” theme.
The Sheriff looks pretty white to me, and is a Vet of the 82nd so he’s likely not a whining type. His jail is overstuffed and dangerous things happen.
http://www.macon.com/2009/11/10/910757/bibb-inmate-used-flip-flop-to.html
Personally I think the flip-flop jailbreak headline beats Kyle’s the locks don’t work headline but I’m admittedly biased.
Boe Jiden
May 17th, 2012
9:18 pm
Please, not tonight? I have a blue-collar headache from trying to remember what I did with my middle class roots.
Was I dreaming!
Rafe Hollister
May 17th, 2012
9:33 pm
aquagirl
No news in your post. Get back to us in 23 years and if the flip flop still opens the Bibb County jail cell door, you will have some news, and a comparable instance.
BADA BING
May 17th, 2012
10:01 pm
Draw a line on the floor in front of the cell. Shoot anyone that crosses it. After 2-3 inmates set the learning curve, everyone will learn what the line is for. No problem.
@@
May 17th, 2012
10:05 pm
Law abiding citizens of ANY county should be concerned about the security within THEIR jails. I’m assuming Kyle’s concerned about Fulton County because he lives either in or nearby.
Hillbilly D
May 17th, 2012
10:09 pm
BADA
Something similar worked for James Garner.
Dusty
May 17th, 2012
10:10 pm
Well,
I never saw so many people so well versed in jail conditions and locks. First hand experience, I presume.
We do have a fine class of prisoners who can unlock cells with bars of soap. Now that’ s clever! Beats Aquagirl’s lip flop story by a mile. I’m just surprised she did not work “flip flop” into a poltical story. But some poeple do not recognize a golden opportunity when its right in front of them..
But our busy liberals here are disgruntled as always. Finn, Rant, Becky & H20 could have a cry party and feel better. They have to unload their gripes every day even over the jail house.
But thanks, Kyle, you do a good job as usual. Somebody ought to care that prisoners are playing hide’n’seek in jail. Maybe if we paid them to stay in jail instead of spending money on locks they might stay put. I mean it works for the unemployed, doesn’t it?
Lil' Barry Bailout (Revised Downward)
May 17th, 2012
10:11 pm
It’s hilarious how the libtards who mere moments ago were bashing Georgia GOP politicians as being idiots, rubes, and incompetents sing a completely different tune when the focus turns to Fulton County!
Dusty
May 17th, 2012
10:18 pm
HillBilly D, 10:09
James Garner, the move star? Huh?
Hillbilly D
May 17th, 2012
10:20 pm
Dusty
“Support Your Local Sheriff.” James was the star.
td
May 17th, 2012
10:21 pm
Thought I might change the subject tonight to see if I can make any libs stroke out:
Obama’s Literary Agent in 1991 Booklet: ‘Born in Kenya and raised in Indonesia and Hawaii’
http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2012/05/17/The-Vetting-Barack-Obama-Literary-Agent-1991-Born-in-Kenya-Raised-Indonesia-Hawaii
OOPPS
BADA BING
May 17th, 2012
10:23 pm
Yes Hillbilly, that movie is one of the best.
Hillbilly D
May 17th, 2012
10:26 pm
BADA
Remember the recurring line, “Basically, I’m on my way to Australia”?
Dusty
May 17th, 2012
10:28 pm
Thanks, Hillbilly
I missed that one.
How ’bout those BRAVES? Won tonight 7 to 0 . I mean as in ZERO for Miami. Way to go, Braves!
Hillbilly D
May 17th, 2012
10:36 pm
Dusty
He had 2 movies in a similar vein, “Support Your Local Sheriff” and “Support Your Local Gunfighter”. I’m not much of a movie fan but both of those are worth watching.
Dusty
May 17th, 2012
10:37 pm
Talk about prisons and movies, I saw “Papillon” the other night. Lost my appetite and did not sleep well that night.. I hope most of that show was fiction.
Dusty
May 17th, 2012
10:39 pm
Hillbilly,
I like to watch movies with James Garner. That one picturing the escape from a Germn prison camp during WWII was good. I”ll have to get lined up with the ones you mentioned.
BADA BING
May 17th, 2012
10:49 pm
Hillbilly…..on my way to Australia. Always remembered it, told my friends I was going someday. In 93 my dream trip happened. Well worth the wait.
Hillbilly D
May 17th, 2012
10:54 pm
BADA
That’s cool. I’ve always wanted to see Australia but doubtful I’ll ever have the funds.
Dusty
“Papillion” was supposed to be a true story but then a few years back, I read that there was some doubt that the guy who was the focus of the movie was ever actually there, so who knows.
Just saying..
May 17th, 2012
11:01 pm
I have no jailers because they’re all in military service” theme, and the “damn State is freeloading on my jail” theme.
Aquagirl has cred here, listing chronic problems that relate to this issue.
Like so many Gov’t problems, it starts and ends with politics:
-Who oversaw construction of the jail has its origins in “connections”
-Fulton sees every dollar going to the jail or Sheriff as a dollar that can’t be spent on senior centers or other “feel good” projects, the kind of expenditures that help get Commissioners elected.
And politics means both Blue and Red, as Kyle points out in his prior post on Georgia state gum’ment.
BADA BING
May 17th, 2012
11:03 pm
If the doors don’t lock, can it really be called a jail? More like a really bad hotel, isn’t it? A one star hotel with bad food.
BADA BING
May 17th, 2012
11:09 pm
Hillbilly….. Papillion was filmed in Jamaica substituting for Devil’s Island off the coast of French Guyana in Northern South America. You can visit the 3 islands shown in the film. I am trying to go there, but it is not very tourist friendly, by SA standards. F Guyana, Surinam, and British Guyana are very densly forested and not on the beaten path, I have never met anyone that have been there or even knows anything about them.
Cutty
May 18th, 2012
12:52 am
I appreciate you doing the ‘right’ thing and changing the title tho.
Santa Clara County (CA) Civil Grand Jury- http://www.scscourt.org/court_divisions/civil/cgj/2002/1047_FINAL.pdf
Kentucky- http://www.kentucky.com/2009/10/23/988478/prisoners-broke-through-doors.html
Cutty
May 18th, 2012
12:59 am
‘Only in Polk County’- http://cedartownstd.com/view/full_story/286983/article-Jail-escapee-sentenced-to-five-years
Cutty
May 18th, 2012
1:05 am
Arrendale State Prison (2004)- http://www.schr.org/incarceration/abuse
Do you need any more information which shows that inoperable/malfunctioning locks on cell doors is a common problem? This occurs in the rest of Georgia, and the Department of Corrections had to shut down a prison because of the same problem you accuse Fulton County of.
ODD OWL
May 18th, 2012
1:55 am
I guess that old adage is true… the inmates really are in charge of the prison… Fulton County should hire the prisoners to guard the prison too…
Jimmy62
May 18th, 2012
6:47 am
This reminds me of when they spent millions to change the turnstiles at MARTA only to realize the new version had a giant gap that anyone could go under.
iggy
May 18th, 2012
7:21 am
“The Sheriff looks pretty white to me, and is a Vet of the 82nd so he’s likely not a whining type. His jail is overstuffed and dangerous things happen.”
Thank you for pointing that out AquaGirl. As usual you’re all wet.
Lil' Barry Bailout (Revised Downward)
May 18th, 2012
7:28 am
New French government hands itself 30% pay cut
AFP – Thu, 17th May 2012 06:07 PM
———-
That’s good news. See, libtards, even your Socialist Party comrades agree that a government that spends less is good for growth in the real economy.
I Report (-: You Whine )-: mmm, mmmm, mmmmm! Just sayin...
May 18th, 2012
7:53 am
“The Life of Julia” reveals much about its originators and the man on whose behalf it was created. Here we see the sterile vision of a certain kind of hard-left liberal, who apparently views the American citizen as a submissive, isolated entity.
She claims no real accomplishments. Throughout, she remains passive. She stays within the channel laid down for her by the government. I wondered if they left out the story of her lobotomy.
Now there’s one medical procedure that obozo’s death panels won’t reject, your lobotomy.
Of course, not very many liberals need one, just sayin…
The Fresh Prince of Bill Ayers
May 18th, 2012
7:57 am
Hey Kyle, leave Fulton county alone! It would shine like a polished turd compared to most of California! It’s a darn shame that Sherman couldn’t come back and burn it to the ground, and get some conservatives to rebuild it starting with the crumbling infrastructure!
Junior Samples
May 18th, 2012
8:08 am
Looks like we’re not the only ones with this problem.
http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2012/05/parwan-locks/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+wired%2Findex+%28Wired%3A+Index+3+%28Top+Stories+2%29%29
commoncents
May 18th, 2012
8:32 am
Dusty @ 10:10 – “Maybe if we paid them to stay in jail instead of spending money on locks they might stay put. I mean it works for the unemployed, doesn’t it?”
Thanks for the laugh to get my day going!
marty
May 18th, 2012
8:39 am
Kyle, did you get a chance to check out the multiple examples provided, at your request, by Cutty and others. You might want to brush up on your googling skills
Junior Samples
May 18th, 2012
8:51 am
Marty please…
Don’t you realize that would defeat the ‘abolish Fulton County’ narrative?
Don Abernethy
May 18th, 2012
8:53 am
The Fulton County jail has had problems for years. I guess you would have to know the details of what is really going on and who is running it. It is very obvious something is wrong and very obvious that there is no one who has the power and is willing to clean house and get it straight. So things will probably go on just as they have without any changes.
Furious Styles
May 18th, 2012
8:57 am
Its simple, find a competent locksmith. And fine any locksmth that says they can do the work and doesn’t deliver. Time to start punishing establishments that don’t know what they are doing.
The Roofing industry in Georgia should be nex.t
Junior Samples
May 18th, 2012
9:15 am
I guess after Kyle reads the provided links to other examples of faulty jail cell locks, even ones our Military built in Afghanistan, he’ll go beyond infuriated.
Possibly even exasperated.
Inflamed perhaps?
Aquagirl
May 18th, 2012
9:16 am
It is very obvious something is wrong and very obvious that there is no one who has the power and is willing to clean house and get it straight. So things will probably go on just as they have without any changes.
Kyle started yesterday with an article about the failure of the Republican dominated legislature to implement any type of ethics reform. His solution of the moment was urging a non-binding ballot measure so Republican voters could “send a message.” In the comments he said somehow reforming the part-time legislator system would help address ethics issues. Which makes absolute sense. So Kyle is perfectly able of understanding nuances and avoiding knee-jerk “throw the bums out!!!!” nonsense.
Then a few hours later he posts about Fulton running a crappy jail and it’s ZOMG THOSE IDJITS MILTON COUNTY NOW.
Kyle Wingfield
May 18th, 2012
9:27 am
Aquagirl: As I pointed out in a few comments yesterday, I’m personally skeptical of Milton County. But if you don’t think stories like the one about the jail locks feed the pro-Milton movement, you’re kidding yourself.