According to numbers given to Inweekly yesterday, the Escambia County Main Jail had 1,011 prisoners on July 10 in a facility built in the mid-1980s to house only 798 inmates–127-percent of its capacity. Prisoners are doubled bunked in rooms, some are sleeping on floors.
The conditions have made the main jail a much more violent place, according to the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office CAD report.
In 2013, when Sheriff Morgan averaged less than 800 prisoners a day in the main jail, the facility had 66 offense reports which included aggravated battery (2), battery (14), battery on a law enforcement officer (11) and sexual battery (2).
In 2016 the main jail had 151 offense reports:
Affray 6 – none in 2013
Aggravated Battery 10 – up 500 percent
Battery 100 – up 714 percent
Battery on LEO 25 – up 227 percent
Sexual Battery 5 – up 250 percent
It has not gotten any better this year – 70 offense reports through July 5. Six of those were sexual battery – more than any full year in the main jail since at least 2008.
