Nov 14, 2013

Seven months after it was thrust into the spotlight as a haven for corruption, corrections officials opened up the 150-year-old Baltimore City Detention Center to show improvements that they say are making the facility safer. Read the story

Photos by Lloyd Fox/The Baltimore Sun

: This is an entrance to the Baltimore City Detention Center. (Lloyd Fox/Baltimore Sun)

: This is the intake receiving area of the Baltimore City Detention Center. (Lloyd Fox/Baltimore Sun)

: This is a view inside the entrance to the Baltimore City Detention Center. (Lloyd Fox/Baltimore Sun)

: A view of the receiving area of the Baltimore City Detention Center. (Lloyd Fox/Baltimore Sun)

: Ricky Foxwell, the Jail Administration Officer, in his office where the new security camera system can be viewed. (Lloyd Fox/Baltimore Sun)

: Ricky Foxwell, the Jail Administration Officer, in his office where the new security camera system can be viewed in the Baltimore City Detention Center. (Lloyd Fox/Baltimore Sun)

: Inmates waiting in the medical department in the Baltimore City Detention Center. (Lloyd Fox/Baltimore Sun)

: The new first floor cafeteria in the Annex building at the Baltimore City Detention Center. (Lloyd Fox/Baltimore Sun)

: The second floor south wing of the Baltimore City Detention Center. (Lloyd Fox/Baltimore Sun)

: The non contact visiting room where visitors can meet inmates that have come to see at the Baltimore City Detention Center. (Lloyd Fox/Baltimore Sun)

: Joe Szymanski is a special education teacher in the adult school at the Baltimore City Detention Center. (Lloyd Fox/Baltimore Sun)

: Gary Maynard, the Secretary of Department of Public Safety and Corrections Services, speaks to the media inside the Baltimore City Detention Center. (Lloyd Fox/Baltimore Sun)

: Gary Maynard, the Secretary of Department of Public Safety and Corrections Services, speaks to the media inside the Baltimore City Detention Center. (Lloyd Fox/Baltimore Sun)

: The working man’s B tier. Men that are housed here are able to perform work outside the Baltimore City Detention Center while being supervised. (Lloyd Fox/Baltimore Sun)

: A prisoner stands inside a cell in the working man’s B tier. Men that are housed here are able to perform work outside the Baltimore City Detention Center while being supervised. (Lloyd Fox/Baltimore Sun)

: The working man’s B tier. Men that are housed here are able to perform work outside the Baltimore City Detention Center while being supervised. (Lloyd Fox/Baltimore Sun)

: An officer is seen at work in the Baltimore City Detention Center. (Lloyd Fox/Baltimore Sun)

: A prisoner rests with his hands outside of the cell. (Lloyd Fox/Baltimore Sun)

: Ricky Foxwell, the Jail Administration Officer, in the Baltimore City Detention Center . (Lloyd Fox/Baltimore Sun)

: This is inside the Baltimore City Detention Center. (Lloyd Fox/Baltimore Sun)

: An officer works inside the Baltimore City Detention Center. (Lloyd Fox/Baltimore Sun)

BALTIMORE JAIL OFFICIALS GIVE TOUR OF SECURITY IMPROVEMENTS
By Justin Fenton, The Baltimore Sun

Seven months after the Baltimore City Detention Center was thrust into the national spotlight as a haven for corruption, state corrections officials made the case Thursday that a series of reforms have significantly improved safety at the 150-year-old facility.

A long-sought phone-jamming technology system is nearing activation. A network of 230 high-definition cameras has been installed with a nerve center in the office of new jail administrator Ricky Foxwell. Corrections officers now pass through heightened security checks when they clock in for work.

“I think we’re well on our way,” Foxwell said as he showed reporters through the jail.

It was the first extensive public look at the facility since the April indictments of 25 people — 13 of them corrections officers — in a federal case that said Black Guerrilla Family gang members had taken over the jail.

> Read the full story

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