NEW ORLEANS (AP) - The sheriff in New Orleans is defending his actions to improve fire safety at the city’s jail complex.
Lawyers for inmates and the U.S. Department of Justice recently called for a contempt finding against Sheriff Marlin Gusman. They say problems with fire safety conditions at parts of the Orleans Parish Prison, including faulty alarm and sprinkler systems, violate a court-backed reform plan.
Court documents filed Thursday by Gusman’s lawyers say most of the problems cited deal with conditions in two jail complex buildings that are more than 80 years old. They also note that a new jail is nearing completion. And they say the sheriff has been working with city firefighters and Louisiana’s fire marshal to address problems with maintenance of existing alarm and sprinkler systems.
Gusman and the City of New Orleans, which funds the jail and also filed papers in the case, said efforts to deal with faulty alarm and fire suppression systems predate last year’s approval of the reform plan called for in a federal consent decree.
“Working together, the City and the Sheriff obtained additional smoke detectors that were installed at Orleans Parish Prison by April 25, 2014. These smoke detectors are part of the means of compliance with the Consent Decree that the Sheriff has represented he has undertaken,” the city’s filing said. The filing also said a vendor has been hired to make repairs to alarms and sprinklers and that work should be completed early this month.
The city said the possibility was raised by the judge in a recent court status conference that inmates might have to be transferred out of the jail complex if it is deemed unsafe. If that proves necessary, the city said, the jail population could be reduced by transferring inmates that are being held for the state and for Plaquemines Parish.
“The return of the Plaquemines Parish inmates as well as the immediate transfer of the DOC inmates would reduce the inmate population by approximately 480 inmates. This reduction would not only permit the closure of at least one facility, avoid any concern regarding fire safety, but equally as important would improve the general safety and welfare of both inmates and deputies at OPP,” the city said.
A hearing on the jail’s fire safety issue is set for Monday.
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