GREAT FALLS — The Cascade County Detention Center is making some improvements to help combat the ever-growing inmate population as well as the amount of drug traffic they are seeing inside the facility.
The Cascade County Sheriff’s Office is bringing about changes they hope will help detention officers do their jobs effectively.
Among the changes they are making, or have already implemented, are updating the switchboards used to open and lock cells and doors, and updating other security and communication equipment used by detention officers.
But one common problem they are seeing at jail is people who try to bring drugs in to the facility.
Sheriff Jesse Slaughter says they see people deliberately getting arrested with drugs in their body cavities in an attempt to smuggle them in. Those attempts also result in more costs for the county.
Slaughter explained, “When a person comes in with those we have to take them to the E.R. to have those objects medically removed from them, which costs us money. We’re going to try to do our best to mitigate those costs with hopefully getting a body scanner, hopefully having our drug K-9 is in training right now, getting those tools brought in here to mitigate that as much as possible. We are being very proactive. It’s just almost impossible to stay ahead of the wave of people coming in to the facility."
The Sheriff’s Office is working with KRTV to inform the community about issues with jail overcrowding, and what steps are being taken to combat that.
In July 2018, there was a riot at the jail, resulting in more than a dozen inmates charged, and several thousand dollars in damage.
- 14 inmates charged for riot at Cascade County jail
- Sheriff provides update on jail conditions and crowding
- Cascade County jail situation: how did we get here?
- Cascade County jail riot caused $22,000 in damage
We will update you as we get more information.
