Most of you don’t know and it has not been reported on regarding COVID-19 and the impact to the county jails in Oklahoma. There are close to 9,000 inmates waiting trial for serious offense in the county jails across the state. This was even after the early release almost six weeks ago of misdemeanor and non violent offense. There are approximately 2,000 detention officers managing that population of 9,000. As of today we have not had one positive case of COVID-19 reported in the county jails.
The reason why I am telling you this is that every employee in the county jail deserves your thanks. An outbreak in one of the 77 county jails would be catastrophic and could possibly overwhelm local hospitals. The Detention Officers that work in the county jails continued to report for duty every day knowing they may risk exposing themselves to the virus. The live and breath every shift with the inmates in the jails. These employees are in charge of some of the most dangerous individuals in society. Yet as of today 0 positive cases among 9,000 inmates.
These Detention Officers are true professionals and they do not get the accolades they deserve for a job well done. Many of us treat it as out of sight out of mind when it comes to a jail. So next time you come across someone that works in the county jail system give them the thanks they deserve for a job well done.
