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The morning of April 13, 2021, booking officers at the Cuyahoga County Corrections Center took what looked to be a lighter off an inmate in the intake area.
It was a .22 caliber hand- gun.
Just a few hours before that, the Cleveland jailers found a firearms magazine on an inmate.
A month later, a body scanner detected a bullet on an inmate being moved through a sally port at the jail. Just days later, two dif- ferent inmates were caught with homemade shanks made out of toothbrushes.
The discoveries are briefly described in records kept by the state Department of Reha- bilitation and Correction jail inspectors. The records were obtained through a public information request.
Across Ohio, jails reported 56 weapons issues to state inspectors between 2020 and 2022. Nearly 70% of issues reported to state officials came from Cuyahoga County.
Ohio DRC has oversight duties over county jails. In 2019, following several deaths at the Cuyahoga County jail, Gov. Mike DeWine hired 10 more employees to the jail oversight team and tripled the number of inspectors.
Many of the weapons that are found are adaptations of everyday items. Eyeglasses converted into shanks. Plastic cups and pieces of tiles made into knives. Broomsticks turned into assault weapons. Four bars of soap in a sock weaponized.
And then there’s the weirder stuff.
A cane with a sword tucked inside almost made it into the Cleveland jail in August 2021. Another inmate dismantled his metal walker.
Thomas L Burbick formerly of Middletown Ohio passed away on June 12 2023 in Lakeland FL. Tom was born June 25 1935 in Alliance, Ohio. Graduated from Middletown High School. After graduation, Tom honorably served his nation in the US Navy during the Korean War. He was proceeded in death by his parents Elmer and Mary Burbick and sister JoAnn Rhodes. He is survived by his wife Ann Burbick and 6 children Jessica Gainey, Thomas Burbick, Susan Weil, Julie Parker, F. Dale Sprague and Tina Ferrucci.