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New fence will make jail more secure By JILL BRISKEY In 1999, luck wasn't on the side of two Jackson County inmates who escaped from the jail but bolted directly into the path of Medford police officers a few blocks away. This week, Lt. Jim Warren of the Corrections Division will ensure that luck remains with correctional workers instead of prisoners by installing a 6-foot chain-link fence around most of the jail. The fence, coated with black rubber, will include three angled-in strands of barbed wire on the top, he added. The Eastman Kodak Co. in White City donated the fence's gate-control equipment. "It's safer for us, it's safer for the public," Warren said. "That fence is one more barrier if (inmates) do get out of the building." The fence is expected to cost $70,000. It will stretch from the tower at West Eighth Street and Mistletoe streets. It will encircle the facility along Mistletoe and 10th streets. Quality Fence was awarded the bid, and Warren said the company expects to finish the job by Friday. Eighth Street access will be restricted Tuesday when crews dig a ditch to lay electrical wiring. Warren said the fence will enclose two parking lots and prohibit access to the south side of the jail, where many male prisoners are housed. Once the fence is done, one parking lot between Eighth and 10th streets will remain open to the public from 7 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. during the week, Warren said. It will be closed off at night or if work involving inmates takes place. The same rules will apply to pedestrian gates in the fence. The lot where corrections officials park their vehicles will remain closed, and must be accessed through fence controls at the gate, Warren said. The fence will keep out visitors who occasionally go too far to get the attention of the inmates, Warren said. "We have people climbing up the poles to tie on balloons for them," Warren said. "We have them getting up on cars and flashing the prisoners." It will also stop prisoners from "fishing," a process where inmates drilled holes in the thick walls, dangled a weighed string and pulled it back after a visitor attached contraband such as drugs or tobacco. Neighbors say putting a fence around the jail might look ugly, but it's no big deal. "If (prisoners) escape, they're not going to stick around," said Mistletoe Street resident Lisa Troh. "The worst that could happen is they would steal your car. It doesn't bother me living here." Derrick Milazzo, who lives a few houses down, agrees. "I think personally it's a good idea," Milazzo said. "It will keep the people in who need to stay in, and the people out who shouldn't be in." The fence is part of a plan to upgrade security at the jail. Warren said several new cameras have been installed and older, black and white cameras replaced this year. Other plans include installing video surveillance and magnetic door locks in the jail lobby. Reach reporter Jill Briskey at 776-4485, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.