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
iggy
May 17th, 2012
12:12 pm
So thats how Finn escaped.
Hillbilly D
May 17th, 2012
12:49 pm
As Forrest Turner once told me, when you’re incarcerated all you have to do to occupy yourself is to figure out ways to get out, and you’ve got plenty of time.
I Report (-: You Whine )-: mmm, mmmm, mmmmm! Just sayin...
May 17th, 2012
12:54 pm
How else will they get out to vote for their local dummycrat, Kyle?
geez, man, you’re so naive.
Jefferson
May 17th, 2012
12:56 pm
The thief is the seller, not the buyer.
Cutty
May 17th, 2012
1:04 pm
Kyle’s faux outrage is laughable at best, and at worst shows his true intentions. Ate the locks a problem? Yes. Are inmates escaping from the jail? No. A quick Google search showed that this is a problem that jails/prisons throughout the country deal with. From Santa Clara County, CS to James Correctional Facility right here in GA. Is Kyle going to go bat $*it that the locks in a private prison in this state don’t work either? Probably not. He’s just adhering to the party line that democratic-run governments don’t work. Kyle’s posts actually have me longing for the days of Jim Wooten. Luke voted for Newt so what does he know.
iggy
May 17th, 2012
1:07 pm
“He’s just adhering to the party line that democratic-run governments don’t work”
And apparently Kyle is correct. See APS, DCSS, Fulton Jail, Clayton County etc…
JohnnyReb
May 17th, 2012
1:07 pm
“He’s (Kyle) just adhering to the party line that democratic-run governments don’t work.”
That’s because they don’t.
Jefferson
May 17th, 2012
1:19 pm
And the GOP run gov’t is worse…
Grasshopper
May 17th, 2012
1:19 pm
NOW APPEARING:
Cutty — Champion of Prison Riots and Convicts on the Street Nationwide!
Kyle Wingfield
May 17th, 2012
1:20 pm
Cutty: Would you like to take issue with anything besides the first few words of the headline? Or just continue with your poor attempt at mind-reading?
Kyle Wingfield
May 17th, 2012
1:26 pm
Btw, Cutty, I notice you didn’t comment on my earlier post today criticizing our Republican-run state government. Of course, that one goes against your petty little theories about me.
DannyX
May 17th, 2012
1:33 pm
“From Santa Clara County, CS to James Correctional Facility right here in GA. Is Kyle going to go bat $*it that the locks in a private prison in this state don’t work either?
$@^*@&! great comment Cutty!
Is it Fulton?
May 17th, 2012
1:38 pm
Hmmm… I wonder if the government built the doors or if there is a corporation out there somewhere producing shoddy locks….
Jefferson
May 17th, 2012
1:39 pm
“petty” good one…
iggy
May 17th, 2012
1:41 pm
“Hmmm… I wonder if the government built the doors or if there is a corporation out there somewhere producing shoddy locks….”
Yeah. It kinda reminds one of that old adage “Buyer Beware.”
Cutty
May 17th, 2012
1:42 pm
Kyle said, ‘only in Fulton County.’ Then he takes issue when I refute his claim by showing that this occurs in other jurisdictions, regardless of party. Maybe you should get more factual headlines. Didn’t read your post this morning bc we know ethics in this state is a pipe dream.
MarkV
May 17th, 2012
1:46 pm
Gist of Kyle’s article: shoddy door locks infuriate him.
They infuriate me too.
End of story.
Is it Fulton?
May 17th, 2012
1:46 pm
If Kyle was truly concerned, he might do a little investigative journalism, review the contracts for the jail, find the company responsible for the POS locks, and expose the company that is getting paid millions of dollars for faulty equipment.
Instead, in true tea party form, he lazily blames fulton county government for the $h!tty equipment.
Kyle Wingfield
May 17th, 2012
1:48 pm
No, Cutty, what I take issue with is your turning a problem in the headline — which I’ve now changed — into a wild-eyed claim about partisanship on my part.
But what I really take issue with is your making that kind of claim when, by your own admission, you don’t bother to read my posts that run counter to your wild-eyed claim.
iggy
May 17th, 2012
1:49 pm
As usual the libtards here and at the Fulton County purchasing office take no responsibility for their lacks decision making and laziness.
Jefferson
May 17th, 2012
1:55 pm
if the gas pump fills your car with diesel fuel instead of gas, ig says you should have checked it and you are lazy.
iggy
May 17th, 2012
1:56 pm
No…I never said anything about fuel.
Becky
May 17th, 2012
1:57 pm
Um Kyle-you were just owned by Cutty. Man up and apologize.
Jn 2
May 17th, 2012
1:59 pm
You build a new house and the roof leaks, sucks to be you, huh ig? You buy a new car and it’s a lemon, you’re SOL, right ig?
finn mccool
May 17th, 2012
1:59 pm
Wow, even when we aren’t in charge the cons can only point fingers at dems.
How about some personal responsibility, iggy?
Didn’t think so
iggy
May 17th, 2012
2:01 pm
If one doesnt use their warranty for the new house then too bad.
If one doenst take advantage of the 3 day lemon law then tough noogies.
ByteMe
May 17th, 2012
2:02 pm
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 it’s still overcrowded. Kyle, will the recently signed “sentencing and prison reform” bill help with existing conditions or just slow the future overcrowding?
Grasshopper
May 17th, 2012
2:03 pm
So if the locks don’t work, what are they spending $136 million on?
Hand-chiselled granite toilets? Onyx busts of MLK?
Kyle Wingfield
May 17th, 2012
2:10 pm
And now we have “Is it Fulton?” — a.k.a. “M.C. getting hammered,” a.k.a. “Jana,” a.k.a. “Sarah P.,” et al. — randomly putting together words that appear in the post without bothering to read the underlying story, which details:
1. The company that sold the locks to the jail is Southern Folger.
2. Those locks have been discontinued, and the issue is replacing them with updated models — not necessarily their being “POS.”
3. This has been a problem for more than a decade.
I could go on, but “Is it Fulton?” probably won’t read all of this, either.
Kyle Wingfield
May 17th, 2012
2:13 pm
ByteMe: I don’t know how many of the Fulton inmates are there for the kinds of offenses — e.g., nonviolent drug offenses — covered by the reform.
DannyX
May 17th, 2012
2:17 pm
From the AJC article Kyle linked to, Republican Tom Lowe Fulton County commissioner from District 4 which includes a big part of the proposed new Milton County:
“I really think this lock thing is blown out of proportion,”
Kyle then links to another story about Republicans plan to shrink Fulton County
Kyle Wingfield
May 17th, 2012
2:23 pm
DannyX: Your point?
Given that inmates have been able to leave their cells and beat other inmates, also putting jail employees at risk, I disagree with Commissioner Lowe’s assessment.
Kyle Wingfield
May 17th, 2012
2:25 pm
Btw, Cutty, I’ve done a few quick Google searches of my own and turned up nothing about lock problems at either of the jails you mentioned. Do you have links?
JDW
May 17th, 2012
2:28 pm
Well I think you are right on this one Kyle…if the locks in a jail don’t work that’s a problem!
Jefferson
May 17th, 2012
2:51 pm
Sounds like we need a new jail in N Fulton.
Gimme Gimme Gimme
May 17th, 2012
2:52 pm
The Bookman crowd discovered what’s wrong with the world today. According to them it’s white people.
DannyX
May 17th, 2012
2:52 pm
“DannyX: Your point?”
You tied this story into the story about Republicans wanting to eventually create a new Milton County, “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.”
Yet the Republican commissioner that represents that area says the lock story is blown out of proportion. Lowe was elected by, and represents a big part of the Milton County area and is part of the problem here, yet you seem to imply this is another reason to break up Fulton County.
If find that very ironic.
Jefferson
May 17th, 2012
2:55 pm
They need a landfill and maybe some site for the waste from the state sponsered GA power nuke plant. Who would want to live there then ? N. Fulton folks have it made, but that’s not enough.
finn mccool
May 17th, 2012
3:05 pm
They are called larry craig locks for a reason…
Kyle Wingfield
May 17th, 2012
3:09 pm
DannyX: He was also defending his and the other commissioners’ inaction on the problem. That’s the other way to look at his quote.
As for me and Milton County: I’m on the record as skeptical of adding another county to our present 159. I would, however, be in favor of lessening the presence of the county government in Fulton, given that it’s almost all incorporated. So I agree with Rep. Jones and others up to that point.
@@
May 17th, 2012
3:13 pm
If all violent crimes got the death penalty, we wouldn’t need to house ‘em.
Cold? You bet!
Lenix, who friends said was on a date Monday night at the drive-in, couldn’t get his Ford Escape to start and approached Williams for help, police said.
But Williams allegedly shot Lenix in the chest, got into his truck and left the drive-in, leaving Lenix lying on the ground, according to the incident report obtained by the AJC.
If or when they find Williams guilty, introduce him to Ol’ Sparky as soon as possible.
Mitt Lenix was an exceptional young man with a promising future. A friend to many here in Clayton County.
Does anyone doubt that Williams or his family received help at one time or another? I’d bet on it.
When someone asked for his help, Williams administered the death penalty.
Grasshopper
May 17th, 2012
3:27 pm
“If or when they find Williams guilty, introduce him to Ol’ Sparky as soon as possible.”
Douse him with gasoline first though.
Rafe Hollister
May 17th, 2012
3:28 pm
It is amazing, the number of problems that consistently plaque Atl/Fulton County government, that you don’t see in the other 158 counties, well maybe Clayton and Dekalb, to a minor extent.
Why can these other counties operate more efficiently, economically, and ethically?
If I lived there, which I do not, I would insist on some answers from someone. One thing that seems overly apparent to me is that Fulton/Atlanta has used their government jobs as an employment placement service, rather than employing the least and best equipped employees necessary to get the job done.
Rafe Hollister
May 17th, 2012
3:36 pm
Instead, in true tea party form, he lazily blames fulton county government for the $h!tty equipment.
Yep, someone there should man up and take responsibility. The only job that a purchasing agent has is to make economical smart purchases. If they bought junk, it is their fault. RESPONSIBILITY, we all take it for stuff we buy, so why should someone who is paid to buy things not take responsibility. Buyer beware, is what we are taught, that is why a normal responsible person does research before making a major purchase. If they made a mistake and were taken, it is their responsibility to correct their mistake.
I Report (-: You Whine )-: mmm, mmmm, mmmmm! Just sayin...
May 17th, 2012
3:44 pm
Gimme Gimme Gimme
May 17th, 2012
2:52 pm
The Bookman crowd discovered what’s wrong with the world today. According to them it’s white people.
Is miss kookman wearing black face again?
She’s so ashamed of herself!
Finn McCool (The System isn't Broken; It's Fixed)
May 17th, 2012
4:13 pm
you don’t see in the other 158 counties
Well, Fulton does have the spotlight on it pretty brightly. More people, more problems. Fact of life.
Ayn Rant
May 17th, 2012
4:19 pm
Gee, Rafe! You and the Republican legislators knows what’s wrong with Fulton, DeKalb and Clayton counties; why not just come right out and say it instead of whine about it in verses, chapters, and volumes? Too many black people!
The other 150+ Georgia counties don’t have any problems. They assure every child a world-class education, every adult a good-paying job with medical and retirement benefits, and every unruly citizen a secure, uncrowded jail. That’s why we never read about them.
Tiberius - Banned by Bookman and proud of it!
May 17th, 2012
4:23 pm
Iggy had the post of the day with his first comment.
ByteMe
May 17th, 2012
4:23 pm
I’m on the record as skeptical of adding another county to our present 159.
I’m not just skeptical. I want them to reduce it by 50 before thinking about splitting any up. About half of South Georgia could be 10 counties and no one except their football teams would care.
I also want them to get rid of the political job named “sheriff” and replace it with a professional jail administrator.
I’m dreaming, of course.-
Tiberius - Banned by Bookman and proud of it!
May 17th, 2012
4:27 pm
Why is it that the libs like Rant always bring up race when none is stated nor implied?? Is that really all you’ve got?
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.
jj
May 18th, 2012
9:28 am
Is anyone else concerned that the replacement of these locks works out to around $5000 each!!!!! Dem or Repub, that is a hell of a lot for a lock. Only in government
Aquagirl
May 18th, 2012
9:37 am
But if you don’t think stories like the one about the jail locks feed the pro-Milton movement, you’re kidding yourself.
I’m not kidding myself Kyle, they do feed the pro-Milton movement. Which is also fed by knee-jerk journalistic barfs like the one above. You threw fuel on a fire that’s not going to solve anything.
Maybe pointing out creation of a Milton county won’t fix any jail anywhere would be more appropriate, you’re certainly capable of a thoughtful, intelligent approach. You chose not to take it.
Kyle Wingfield
May 18th, 2012
10:03 am
Well, the people in Milton County wouldn’t have to worry about it anymore, so I’m not sure about your 9:37, Aquagirl.
Kyle Wingfield
May 18th, 2012
10:31 am
Well, Fred, in most of those instances the authorities are attempting to fix the locks. That’s not yet the case in Fulton County, even though the problem has been known for a decade. And while you may have missed or ignored that part of my complaint, the county’s apparent apathy toward the problem is what really ticks me off. Equipment will break or become obsolete; anyone can recognize that. It’s the failure to fix said equipment — all while spending tens of millions of dollars every year on the facility — that infuriates me.
As for Cutty’s evidence: The Arrendale situation appears to be analogous both in the problem and the failure to address it. And, as a Georgia taxpayer, that ticks me off, too.
The Santa Clara jail may also be analogous, although the document at the link does not say how long the problem had been known about. And the other example cited in that link is not analogous, as a grand jury determined officials didn’t know about the problem — the exact opposite of the case in Fulton.
The Kentucky example is not analogous, because the problem (which concerned locks on emergency exits, not individual cells) was discovered as a result of the riot. And authorities there responded by checking the locks at the state’s other prisons.
The Cedartown example is nowhere close to Fulton’s: The problem that allowed the inmate to escape was that “Electrical technicians and computer programmers were working on the lock when the escape occurred.” That’s a different kind of incompetent, but it isn’t nearly the same as knowing for a decade that cell locks don’t work and choosing not to fix them.
Mr. Fix-It
May 18th, 2012
10:51 am
How Fitting!
Fulton County “Employees” don’t do much in the way of WORK, either.