BY TANYA ALBERT
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Wednesday's escape from the Hamilton County Justice Center is at least the third county jail breakout in Greater Cincinnati this year.
Inmates escaped Warren and Boone county jails this summer. But residents shouldn't panic.
"If it's always the same facility, it's a problem," said Edward Latessa, head of the Criminal Justice Department at the University of Cincinnati. "But a few here and there isn't unusual."
Despite security cameras, "unbreakable" windows and other jail security gadgets, nothing can ensure that no one will escape. If a prison security officer isn't watching the television monitors closely, if jails are crowded or a jail is understaffed, people behind bars will take advantage, Mr. Latessa said.
The best defense against escapes is a highly trained staff, said Todd Craig, chief spokesman for the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
"Inmates are ingenious," he said. "They have 24 hours a day, seven days a week to devise escapes."
There have been at least six jail escapes in Greater Cincinnati in the past two years:
On July 6, two inmates escaped from the Boone County Jail. They used hacksaw blades to cut through three metal bars, then broke out a fourth-floor window and lowered themselves to the ground on sheets knotted together. Officials think the blades were smuggled into the jail.
On June 23, three Warren County Jail inmates squeezed through a chain-link roof in the recreation area. They jumped 15 feet, removed their orange jumpsuits and fled to a subdivision in T-shirts and boxer shorts.
In August 1997, a Clermont County Jail inmate escaped from the outside recreational area in August by climbing onto the back of another inmate who stood on a low-level security camera. He was captured three hours later.
In July 1997, three Kenton County Jail inmates lowered themselves down 10 floors on tied-together sheets.
In May 1997, two inmates fled the Clermont County Jail through an unlocked back door. They ran through woods but were caught within 24 hours.
Burress was well regarded before arrest
