More than $700,000 worth of state funding is going into making the Columbus County Detention Center safer for both inmates and staff.
Sheriff Bill Rogers and Chief Deputy Jerome McMillian briefed commissioners Monday on the progress of several improvements at the county jail, including improved cell locks, security camera and a body scanner system.
“We hope that these upgrades can …help reduce some of these lawsuits the county has had to deal with,” McMillian said.
The funding was secured for the county by Rep. Brenden Jones
“This isn’t costing the local taxpayers one thin dime,” Rogers said.
A major issue at the detention center has been cell door locks that can be sabotaged – or “popped” by inmates, allowing them to roam throughout the common areas. The locks leading from the confinement sections to the outside are different, and while inmates cannot escape, they can pose a danger to other inmates and security staff.
The county approved a new type of cell lock earlier this year at the request of Rogers. Supply chain problems have delayed start of the changeout until early December.
McMillian said that the detention center has a growing problem with inmates smuggling drugs into the jail. Since male and female guards may not search inmates of the opposite sex, staffing issues sometimes lead to illegal drugs making it inside the detention center.
The new body scanner, with a cost of around $150,000, will make most physical searches unnecessary, McMillian said.
The third major improvement has been badly needed for years, McMillian said. The new security camera system will provide better recording capabilities and higher quality than the current system.
“Right now,” the chief deputy explained, “it doesn’t do very much good to have a camera that doesn’t give a good picture of a face. Sometimes it’s hard to recognize features on the camera. If you can’t see faces, it doesn’t do us very much good.”
Rogers also detailed the plans for the new sheriff’s office. The agency moved out of the circa 1920s building on Washington Street due to mold, asbestos, space and multiple other problems. That building is set to be demolished.
Currently the sheriff’s office is housed at the former Board of Education building, a few hundred feet away from the old CCSO. Thy moved there after the BoE moved to county-owned former BB&T Campus on U.S. 701 North.
Original plans were to demolish the old building and construct a new law enforcement center on the same ground. Rogers said that plans are now to construct a breezeway that will connect a new 200 foot long addition to the former Board of Education building. That will allow the entire sheriff’s office to be under the same roof for the first time in years, Rogers said.
“We’ll have a better meeting place than the metal building out back (of the old building),” Rogers said. “The armory will be able to be double locked. We’ll have every department, every office, under one roof.”
Rogers thanked Jones for arranging the funding for the detention center upgrades as well as the sheriff’s office project.
“He has really come through for Columbus County,” Rogers said.
