Sheriff stresses need for an upgraded jail

Running for reelection, Labat discusses issues with AJC’s editors.

Fulton County Sheriff Patrick Labat says he could retire, live off his pension and spend his days perfecting his golf game.

But the county’s top law enforcement officer is opting instead to run for reelection this year, saying Wednesday that Fulton is in dire need of a replacement jail that can better keep detainees safe until they get their day in court.

In a wide-ranging interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s editorial board, Labat stressed the need for an updated facility, reiterating that some of the county’s most violent offenders are fashioning makeshift weapons out of the existing jail’s crumbling walls and plumbing systems.

“It’s a facility that has outlived its life cycle,” said Labat, an Atlanta native who began is career in law enforcement more than three decades ago answering phones at the Atlanta city jail, where the county now leases 700 beds but houses about 450 people.

He estimated some 70% of detainees at the troubled Rice Street Jail have gang ties, and described a constant struggle to keep drugs, cellphones and other contraband from getting in.

Labat also said he and his family received numerous threats over the ongoing “Young Slime Life” trial involving Atlanta rapper Young Thug and the sheriff ’s decision to book and photograph former President Donald Trump following last year’s election interference indictment.

“I lamented over that decision,” he said of requiring Trump to turn himself in and have his picture taken. “If I can take a mugshot of thousands of young African Americans that come through, if I can take a mugshot of the No. 1 rapper in the world, then I have to remain consistent.”

When he first took office in early 2021, Labat said members of his command staff noticed that about 1,000 doors in the jail were completely “inoperable.” They were either missing locks or could be pulled off their hinges entirely, the sheriff said.

About 600 detainees were sleeping on the floor and the sheriff’s office identified some inmates who had been there for years without bond while awaiting trial. Rival groups clashed regularly and some detainees were able to break through walls to start fights and commit other violent acts, according to Labat.

“I’m surprised between the duct tape and the bubble gum that the building is still standing,” he said.

The jail opened in 1989 and was built to house 1,125 people, the sheriff noted, saying it has been overcrowded since Day 1.

The existing jail’s “operational capacity” is about 2,400, according to the sheriff ’s office, but sometimes held close to 3,000. Now it’s down to just over 1,700, with about 1,000 more detainees being held at the Atlanta City Detention Center, and jails in Alpharetta and Union City.

Labat and his agency have come under increased scrutiny following the string of in-custody deaths. Ten detainees died in the custody of the sheriff’s office last year, and a 36-year-old died last month after being found unresponsive in his cell.

Conditions at the jail are under review by the U.S. Justice Department. Between 2009 and October 2022, more than 60 Fulton detainees died at Rice Street, the highest total for any jail in Georgia during that time, the AJC found.

Labat said whenever someone is injured or killed at the jail, he thinks of his own family and how he might feel if something happened to one his relatives.

“We have to do something, we got to get people off the floor, we got to treat them more humanely,” Labat recalled thinking after learning of the first jail death on his watch. “Every time someone’s son or daughter is injured, I think of my own family.”

Labat said steps are being taken to keep inmates safe, including the outsourcing of some to surrounding counties. He said his agency has also worked with the DA’s office and court officials to try to reduce the backlog and get some people released from custody, particularly lower-level offenders.

If a replacement jail is built, Labat said the estimated $1.7 billion facility would house up to 4,700 people. More than 400 of those beds will be designated solely for detainees with mental health issues, he said.

Labat said he’s a “firm believer” in treating detainees with dignity and getting people the help they need to improve their circumstances. But he said that can’t be happen without better facilities and additional resources.

“Just because somebody is locked up doesn’t mean they’re guilty ... and it doesn’t mean they don’t deserve a second chance,” Labat said. “Ultimately we have to change the culture of how we treat people.”