More violence at Fulton County jail underscores overcrowding issue, sheriff says
Sheriff pleas with Atlanta City Council after more violence at Fulton County Jail
Fulton County Sheriff Pat Labat is urging the Atlanta City Council to approve a measure signed by Mayor Andre Dickens to transfer inmates from the county jail to to the city jail in an effort to relieve overcrowding. The sheriff says violence has been out of control due to the excessive inmate population.
ATLANTA - Violence at the Fulton County jail is out of hand.
That stance does not come from a critic of the sheriff.
Pat Labat feels that way and says he needs help to improve conditions.
"In the last sixty days, there have been sixty-four stabbings," the sheriff told Atlanta City Council members on Monday.
He can add one more to the tally as jailers reported a new incident on Tuesday morning.
Labat is asking the council to allow an agreement the Atlanta mayor made to move several hundred prisoners to the downtown city jail to go forward.
However, Atlanta City Council member Keisha Waites is among those members who want to see a study of the county jail's population completed before green lighting the inmate transfer agreement.
The matter will come to a head next Monday when the full council will consider the sheriff's request.