Charleston County Sheriff’s Office gives News 2 a behind the scenes look at the Al Cannon Detention Center

NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCBD) – The Charleston County Sheriff’s Office gave News 2 a behind the scenes look at the Al Cannon Detention Center on Tuesday.

Sheriff Carl Ritchie was sworn in back in January and said he is working to provide transparency in his administration. The sheriff hired a new jail administrator, Stan Davis, who spoke about the improvements made over the past couple months. These include a focus on holding staff accountable, improving living conditions for inmates, and cracking down on contraband.

“Right off the bat our focus has been safety, safety is always number one. In a very short period, we’ve increased safety – our main focus so far has been to reduce contraband. Contraband is dangerous, contraband causes people to get sick,” Davis said.

However, the jail faces two main challenges. Officials said this includes healthcare, specifically mental health, and a staffing shortage. Once inmates are processed, it becomes the deputy’s responsibility.

“We are the first line of defense when it comes to the medical part. We do have a registered medical nurse that’s assigned to processing,” Capt. E C Luke, a deputy at the Al Cannon Detention Center, said.

“Staffing levels are down roughly 20% from where they were just five years ago, but the inmate population has grown by over 40%,” Davis said. “So, you can see that causes an imbalance. When you have fewer staff managing more inmates you increase the risk to everyone.”

The current ratio is one deputy to 64 inmates per unit. Davis added that mental health is a nationwide issue that is not new, and “numerous inmates who have serious mental issues are waiting for in-patient treatment,” at the jail.

Additionally, the jail administrator said the medical response has improved in his time there. This comes as the previous administration had several jail deaths with a different provider.

“I can’t personally relate to one versus the other because VitalCore was here when I got here, but from what I’m told and what I’ve seen there’s a very close working relationship. We have daily contact, hourly contact with folks from VitalCore. They’re very responsive to all our needs, they are busy productive people. I would say yes we’re getting better service from VitalCore,” said Davis.

Recently in March, an inmate suffered a medical emergency and Davis said the response was “instant,” but nothing else could be done. He said, “we are very happy with their response.”

The sheriff’s office is seeking to hire more deputies. The agency’s website has more information ranging from deputies, sheriffs, or civilian positions. Additional training programs may be required.