Safety Behind The Jail Walls

WEST POINT, Miss.(WCBI)- Jails are designed to keep people behind bars, but fires and natural disasters can make it complicated to keep prisoners safe.

However, law enforcement have plans in place to make sure everyone is ok and remains in custody.

“The jail is designed to keep people inside. So, when you have something in the case of a fire or natural disaster you’ve got to have evacuation plans,”said Clay County Sheriff Eddie Scott.

Scott says managing more than 100 inmates can be a task but the challenges increase in an emergency.

“We have everyone from misdemeanors all the way to violent crimes, such as murder, also we’ve got females all these could potentially mix together in the event of a very quick evacuation,”said Scott.

The county jail was built with brick exterior and steel interior walls able to withstand most severe weather events.

Only recently was a secure area for fire evacuations built.

“Last year I was able to build an impound yard out beside the jail. The fencing around it is just like our parameters fencing. So in that case I could move close to 200 people in this fenced area and we’d be secure,”said Scott.

Noxubee County’s jail just opened last year. Sheriff Terry Grassaree says the new facility is equipped with newer technology than other jails.

“When they started designing it they designed it to withstand hurricanes storms, everything. Really. We have a lot of flame retardant stuff and if something does break out, some machines cut out and others machines suck out the smoke and everything. It’s designed really to stop a fire before it gets started,”said Grassaree.

Jailers also have to figure out a way to multi-task and follow orders, this means making decisions in a mater of seconds to save lives.

“While they are notifying us they’re going to have to still be getting inmates ready to get out of the jail facility. We only have so many doors and these doors are secured which means the guards are going to have to actually unlocked the doors and start moving them to a safe location. I say safe location but it has to be a secure location,”said Scott.

“When disaster happens everybody gets running. You want people to stay calm and make sure everything is in control and our people are in control of the situation,”said Grassaree.

The National Fire Protection Association reports most jail fires are started in kitchens or cooking areas or inmates.

Categories: Local News

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