Detention officers performed a shakedown at the Fulton County Jail on Wednesday, April 20 and recovered 96 homemade knives and shanks. Even more mind-boggling is that the jail’s dilapidated structure provided the raw materials for the weapons. Inmates used screws and other metal parts of the building to make the contraband. While authorities were also looking for drugs and cellphones, they were shocked not only by the number of weapons found but also that the facility is in such bad shape that the building itself is fueling unsafe conditions.
The shakedown follows a stabbing of a detention officer on April 7. The officer was stabbed in the back of the head with a shank and had defensive wounds on his shins but has been released from the hospital and is recovering at home.
“We want to make sure that our women and men know that they’re the most valuable assets we have, and this is part of making sure they are safe as well,” Fulton County Sheriff Pat Labat told Channel 2 Action News.
Labat said that Fulton County commissioners are conducting a feasibility study that he’s hoping will lead to ground-breaking on a new facility.
Fulton County Jail is the largest jail in the southeast.
