Trading in keys for cuffs: 5 jail guards arrested in last two weeks

 Trading in keys for cuffs: 5 jail guards arrested in last two weeks

by Claire Foley, Jan 29th 2024

Five guards at the Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center have been arrested since January 12. (Credit: Claire Foley/WACH)

RICHLAND COUNTY, S.C. (WACH) —

Five employees at the embattled Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center have been arrested since January 12. The disturbing trend is leading to new strategies by authorities across the state to catch criminals in the act.

Richland County took to social media this week to advertise that the Richland County jail is hiring. They've been looking to fill dozens of jobs for months, and now have five more positions to add to the tally.

The five women are accused of bringing contraband onto the property, having illegal contact with inmates, or both. The most recent to be arrested is 23-year-old Zaria Watson.

Investigators with the Richland County Sheriff's Department report that they found green plant-like material inside her car in the employee lot on Thursday.

As the jail continues a hiring campaign, it has lawmakers who oversee the corrections system, like Senator Katrina Shealy, questioning the vetting process.

"Does something need to be done? Yes. Do you need to just hire anybody to go to work there just to fill a spot? No because i think that maybe that's part of the problem," said Senator Shealy. "I think we need to have a better screening policy on who goes to work over there."

The discovery on Thursday isn't the first instance of authorities performing sweeps at county jails and in state prisons.

Earlier this month, the State Department of Corrections posted videos showing targeted searches of state prisons and what they found.

One of the hottest commodities for inmates are cellphones. That's why Director Bryan Stirling shared there's a new federal program working to shut down cell service to people behind bars.

"It's pretty simple. It's working. It's something that, this is not just a South Carolina problem. This is a national corrections problem," said Stirling.

Both Stirling and Shealy agree that this issue has consequences that go beyond the barbed wire fences.

"It's not only an external problem for the citizens and public safety, it's an internal problem," said Stirling.

"There's too many other incidents that happen at Alvin S. Glenn and, you know, besides these, the inmates getting injured and those sorts of things," said the Senator, "and then if they can't figure it out you know maybe the state is going to have to take control of it."

That is still something that's on the table, as a federal investigation by the Department of Justice continues into the Richland County Jail. State inspectors also noted dozens of issues here during an inspection in late 2023. The Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center has 48 days left to prove to those state officials that they have complied with the inadequacies found in December’s inspection report.