“Gassing,” according to Double-Tongued Dictionary, is prison slang for “throwing feces or bodily fluids at someone.” In a video Oklahoma County Sheriff’s Office public information director Mark Myers posted to his personal Twitter page on Dec. 6, sheriff’s office employees seem to be getting a similar treatment from the plumbing in the Oklahoma County jail. […]
Oklahoma County sheriff’s office
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Running the jail
(This story was updated Dec. 11 to include new information on the sheriff’s deadline and budget requests.) A jail administrator has been selected to run the Oklahoma County jail. Greg Williams, who has worked at Department of Corrections for nearly four decades, was selected unanimously by the jail trust in early November. However, he has […]
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Jails on ICE
Oklahomans are tackling a national immigration issue at the local level. Activists are urging state and municipal law enforcement agencies to not assist Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) amid reports of immigration raids and detained asylum seekers. Last Saturday, immigration advocates gathered outside Fort Sill, a military base near Lawton set to house more than […]
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Public trust
County commissioners unanimously voted last week to create Oklahoma County Criminal Justice Authority, a trust to oversee the Oklahoma County jail’s operations and finances. They also appointed trustees, including District 3 commissioner Kevin Calvey. While there are still many questions about how the jail trust will work, whether the sheriff’s office will continue operating the […]
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Chicken-Fried News: Body count
With 1,079 of every 100,000 people behind bars, according to a study released by Prison Policy Initiative last year, Oklahoma has the highest incarceration rate in the U.S., and even under the most draconian application of state laws, some of those people might not even belong there. Earlier this month, Judge Tom Price ordered Oklahoma […]
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Voices heard
Oklahoma County Sheriff’s Office recently announced its intent to form a citizens advisory board (CAB). The board will advise the sheriff’s office with regard to “community-police relations and best practices,” according to a press release. Members of Voices Organized in Civic Engagement (VOICE), a coalition of churches, nonprofits and schools, came up with the idea […]
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Jail suits
Recently elected Oklahoma County’s District 1 commissioner, Carrie Blumert ran for office after learning about the number of deaths in the county jail. Now, she’s hoping to provide as much information to the public as possible to pave the way for change. “That’s been a big focal point for me during the campaign, and now […]
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Jail time
In 1991, a ribbon-cutting ceremony was held at the corner of Robert S. Kerr and Shartel avenues in downtown Oklahoma City. The occasion marked the opening of Oklahoma County Detention Center. The jail was designed by architects HTB Inc. and RGDC Inc., and completed sooner than expected. However, what was unknown to onlookers at the […]
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Chicken-Fried News: Senior moment
It was supposed to be a prank, but the Oklahoma County Sheriff’s Office was not laughing. The sheriff’s department was called to investigate a senior prank gone wrong earlier this month at Deer Creek High School. A student told KOCO Channel 5 that the prank led to a teacher injury. So what was this prank? […]
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Addiction poses threat to Oklahoma teens
The health department and local officials and organizations help teens struggling with addiction through programs and prevention tactics.