Fulton sheriff begs to move inmates from overcrowded jail to Atlanta detention center – WSB-TV Channel 2

FULTON COUNTY, Ga. — Fulton County Sheriff Pat Labat says lives are at risk if inmates on the Fulton County Jail aren’t transferred some place else.

Sheriff Labat says eight inmates have died within the overcrowded jail in 2022. He says if issues don’t change, that quantity might develop.

Channel 2 Investigative Reporter Mark Winne discovered that there are presently 489 inmates sleeping in “boats” on the ground of the Fulton County Jail. Over on the Atlanta Detention Heart, solely 48 of the 1,314 beds are occupied.

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“I’m shifting in an area the place folks’s lives are at risk. Because you met final, we had somebody openly murdered in our facility,” Labat informed the Atlanta Metropolis Council throughout its Monday night time assembly.

Labat informed the council that the overcrowded and understaffed jail might be a life or demise state of affairs for hundreds of individuals, however that he believes they’ll velocity up a possible repair.

“I talked to our county legal professional to see what are our choices if we imagine that there’s an emergency. Certainly one of them is to go to courtroom, which continues to be on the desk,” Fulton County Fee Chair Robb Pitts informed Winne.

Sheriff’s Workplace Lt. Col. Adam Lee says eight inmates have died this yr from a mix of medical points, suicide and murder.

“Every of us, after we’re campaigning, ask folks to go vote, and don’t delay and do it. So why would we delay something with regards to folks’s lives?” Labat questioned the council on Monday night.

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Atlanta Metropolis Council Public Security Vice Chair Byron Amos says that earlier than they’ll permit the switch of inmates, a jail inhabitants assessment must be performed by an unbiased committee. He provides that, personally, he believes that the assessment can occur concurrently with the inmate transfers.

“The genesis of this whole relationship is to place folks in a extra humane atmosphere, to get folks off of the flooring and into cots and into cells,” Amos stated.

Pitts says that Labat and Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens have had discussions about permitting Fulton County to lease 700 beds from town’s detention middle for a interval of as much as 4 years, however nothing has been made official by the council.

Atlanta metropolis officers announced the plans to lease the beds back in August, however the metropolis council has not but given its approval.

“What’s the issue? The mayor needs it to occur, that means he needs to offer us the keys. We wish the keys. The sheriff needs the keys, however there’s an issue with metropolis council on what sure council members are saying,” Pitts defined.

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Labat says he has been informed the research must be full by November 18, however he believes that’s nonetheless too lengthy to attend.

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