Recent prison escapes and jailbreaks ‘nothing new': Ex-sheriff
(NewsNation) — The recent prison escapes and jailbreaks in Arkansas and New Orleans over the last month have now put a spotlight on the system and its failures. Rick Singleton, former Lauderdale County sheriff in Mississippi, says both incidents shouldn't surprise anyone.
'It's nothing new. It's always happened and always will,' he said. 'County jails are just not as secure as state prisons. There are just a lot of factors that go into an escape like this.'
Grant Hardin believed to still be in same area as prison escape
The Arkansas and New Orleans incidents are prompting people to take a closer look at the outdated facilities and staffing issues facing the American prison system as a whole. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, employee retention has sharply decreased, with 30% of workers leaving each year.
Singleton feels county officials need to start taking the prisons more seriously and not treating corrections like the 'stepchild of law enforcement and politics.'
'Everyone wants everyone locked up, but they don't want to have to pay for it,' added Singleton. 'The funding has always been an issue. The pay is not good at all for corrections deputies. When I went into office, I had deputies selling blood to pay their bills. The pay was so bad.'
Singleton, who headed the manhunt of one of the biggest jailbreaks back in 2022, when corrections officer Vicky White helped violent felon Casey White escape from an Alabama jail, acknowledged the Hardin escape case is tremendously challenging for authorities in Arkansas as the days pass.
Bloodhounds hunting 'Devil in the Ozarks' fugitive are seen as key part of manhunt
'He knows what's going on on the other end,' Singleton said. 'He knows what the investigators are doing, having that knowledge. He's in a better position to avoid some of those pitfalls that these guys fall into typically.'
Singleton is confident that Hardin will eventually be apprehended. Eight out of the 10 inmates who escaped in New Orleans have been captured.
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