RANDOLPH COUNTY, North Carolina — A Triad county is reporting overcrowding, and understaffing in its jail.
The Randolph County Sheriff's Office said sometimes they only have one detention officer, responsible for 20 inmates.
The spiral barbed wire surrounding the Randolph County Detention Center is similar to the twists and turns happening inside the jail as they face staffing shortages.
Jail Captain Cody Rich said they're short 12 officers.
"Something as being short one person could leave a pod uncovered leading to missed security rounds," Captain Rich said.
Captain Rich said being down just one officer in booking and intake poses safety risks.
Detention officer Haley Goins has experienced it firsthand.
"It can be overwhelming especially in booking when you have people coming off the streets and they're high or fighting and you have to answer phones and get people booked in and answer the public," Goins said.
Rich said officers are working double shifts and off-duty officers are called In to fill the gap.
"The officer in the jail is similar to the officer in the street you're forced to make split-second decisions every day and now they have to do the tasks of another person which means another 10 tasks," Captain Rich said. "Yeah, it can lead to burnout quickly."
The jail is also overcrowded. 31 inmates are sleeping on the floor.
Rich said this creates tension and violence can become a concern.
"To keep the officer to inmate ratio at an acceptable range we'll run half of the lockdown pod out at any given time so one inmate is dealing with 1 officer per 15-20 inmates instead of one officer dealing with 60 inmates that could be in that housing unit," captain Rich said.
Other counties in the Triad like Davidson and Rockingham are less than 10 inmates away from their jail's overcrowding.
For Randolph, Renovations have left little space for inmates.
Rich says they're waiting on approval from the state to occupy one of its newly remodeled pods.
It would open up 48 cells.
In the meantime, Goins says she'll do her best to reduce the stress and strain on everyone.
"There's rules and you sometimes have to be hard on them but I try to remember to give them respect and then you don't have any problems," Captain Rich said.
When it comes to retaining officers-- captain Rich said that has also been tough.
They've had to let folks go for bringing in things and talking to people they shouldn't.
The sheriff's office said it's trying to find more workers, to help with strained resources.
People interested in jobs at the Randolph County Detention Center can apply here.
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