Fulton County Jail Begins Lock Replacement

Sept. 13, 2013
New locks have reinforced housings that prevent tampering and lights linked to the jail's control tower to alert guards if they are not secure.

Inmates at the Fulton County Jail in Atlanta, GA, have been able to access to the deadbolt latch or they could shake the doors hard enough to disengage the lock. In fact, this has reportedly happened on a regular basis, with inmates assaulting staff and stealing each other's property.

This is just one of the reasons that the 2,500-inmate capacity prison has remained under federal oversight for more the last seven years.

New locks have reinforced housings that prevent tampering and lights linked to the jail's control tower to alert guards if they are not secure. They are being installed on one floor at a time

Five million in tax dollars is being used to provide the jail with more than 1,300 new locks. The first batch was installed this week, with an estimated completion time of April 2014.

Click on the links below to read two local news reports about security issues at the Atlanta Fulton County Jail:

http://www.myfoxatlanta.com/story/23419610/new-locks-installed-at-fulton-county-jail

http://www.cbsatlanta.com/story/23418664/fulton-county-jail-gets-new-locks-for-inmate-cell-doors