VIDEO: Resources One Local Sheriff’s Department Uses To Help Catch Escaped Inmates

CLAY COUNTY, Miss. (WCBI)- Receiving the news that an inmate has escaped from jail is news all law enforcement officers dread to hear.

Clay County sheriff Eddie Scott tells WCBI it can be challenging trying to track down an escaped inmate.

He knows from past experiences.

An inmate escaped from the Clay County jail, and his department called on the U.S. Marshals Service to capture him.

“Our biggest fear is when one escapes is the potential crimes they may commit while on the run,” said sheriff Scott.

Scott said when inmates escape from jail, it becomes an immediate threat to the community, which is why whenever he receives news about an inmate being on the loose, he and his staff start their investigation right away.

“First of all we want to know what time of crime it is, whether it’s going to be a violent person or not, then start working with the agency where the escaped occurred,” he said.

Scott said communicating and working with other law enforcement agencies plays a huge role in tracking down the escapees.

“Normally, all agencies in the state and again, including the federals, are involved in these escapes,” the sheriff explained. “Again, if somebody takes that chance to run, sometimes they have nothing to lose. So that just makes it that more imperative for us to catch these individuals.”

Once agencies collect information about the escaped inmate, they then put the information out on social media, which is another tool they rely upon.

“Social media and getting information out there,” the sheriff described. “Now you have so much, Facebook, twitter, it’s so many avenues now of getting this information out there, and we do have a good public feedback from this.”

Once the information is out there, Scott said they then work with the community, because more times than not, a some point, the escapees will return back to the city or town that they are from.

“In a lot of cases we’ve seen that happen,” he said. “They’re going to try to, if not try to go back to that area, they’re going to try to contact. So that’s the reason it’s so important to let the public know and get this information out there so that they can be on the lookout, and it’s just as important for them to notify us if they see something.”

Sheriff Scott said if a Mississippi Department of Corrections inmate escapes, they’ll send out information to everyone statewide alerting them that an escaped inmate in on the loose.