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| Inmates start riot at Ala. jail |
| By Andalusia Star-News |
| Published: 06/11/2004 |
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Overcrowding at the Covington County (Ala.) Jail may have led to a small riot Wednesday evening, according to Capt. Jerry Edgar with the Covington County Sheriff's Department. "We had three or four inmates in a block who were upset," said Edgar, who was called in soon after the incident occurred. "I don't know what they were upset about." Edgar said the damage was minimal and no one was hurt. "They banged on windows and broke the sprinkler head, flooded the cells," he said. "There was no real damage, it was all fixed by 9 p.m., everything back to normal." The biggest complaint the inmates had, said Edgar, was the fact they did not get to go outside to smoke that day. He said there had been so many to go to court that there wasn't enough manpower to oversee the inmates going outside to smoke. Edgar said that was only one factor, however. "It was just one of those jail things - when it's overcrowded, it's going to happen, tempers get short," said Edgar. "We're overcrowded again. We've got 45 in a block that's supposed to have 30." Part of the problem is that many of those inmates, especially among the three or four "ringleaders" of the disturbance, are state prisoners, already sentenced, but still housed in a county jail, which creates an element of frustration. "The state hasn't called for them," said Edgar. "Once they get sentenced, they want to get on up to state, to start serving their time." Edgar said he spoke to the ringleaders Wednesday night. "They were very apologetic," he said. |
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