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Eyes on you - if
you're near new Morgan jail Sheryl Marsh / THE DECATUR DAILY | May 31 2006 If you don't want to be under surveillance every time you go near or pass the new Morgan County Jail, then you might consider taking another route. A security system that jailers will control from inside the $23 million facility allows them to look beyond their perimeter, an architect said. The system's resolution is so good that it can get a clear picture of your face and car tag. The jail staff will be able to see clearly the courthouse and then several blocks in the opposite direction. Steve Griffin, the Hart-Freeman and Roberts architect who designed the jail, said that type of scope is necessary. "They need to see over to the courthouse for when prisoners are transported there for trial," Griffin said. David Musacchio, the architect who worked on designing security for the jail, explained the intended use of surveillance cameras. "The exterior cameras were set to give good surveillance around the jail," Musacchio said. "You can identify the driver of a vehicle and digitally record their face and the license plate on the vehicle." While the cameras can zoom in on the general public, Musacchio said, that's not the intended use. He said it would be abusive to use the system for any purpose other than monitoring situations involving the jail. Although the security system's capacity can spot activity blocks away, the jailers shouldn't be interested in such monitoring unless prisoners are involved, he said. "When I was punching the building out, I didn't look down the street four blocks to see what was going on because that's not the intended use of the camera," Musacchio said. "They don't have to watch people passing by the jail or anything past the immediate area. They would do that only if a car was leaving the area or hiding something in a container." Musacchio said that in the past, surveillance at corrections facilities has been poor. "We were stuck with videotapes that were grainy," said Musacchio. "This system does what it needs to do." The security system cost $306,000, according to the county administrator. To comply with a federal court order, officials must have the inmates moved into the new jail by Thursday. ---------------------------------------------------
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