COLUMBIA, S.C. — Inside the Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center in Columbia, you'll find fresh paint and new locks--signs of visible upgrades at the facility, commonly known as the Richland County jail. They're all part of changes the jail is making after a difficult period for the troubled facility.
The detention center is one of two in this state (Charleston County is the other) that is now under a U.S. Department of Justice investigation centered around what's explained as unsafe conditions that the government says could be violating inmates' civil rights. This all came after stabbings, assaults, riots, alleged sexual assaults, and six deaths were reported within a year.
News19 recently had a chance to go beyond the razor wire fence and look at what's being done to improve conditions. It's the first time media cameras have been inside the facility since the DOJ launched their investigation.
The area News19 toured with Richland County Administrator Leonardo Brown and Jail Director Crayman Harvey was a dorm that had recently undergone extensive renovations. It used to be called the Shu, which is short for Special Housing Unit. Now, it has a new name and will be for detainees not following the rules behind bars. The unit was closed for months for renovations; according to the county, it returned online on December 8.
The beds are welded to the floor, and the porcelain sinks are gone, replaced with stainless steel plumbing systems that can't be pulled from the wall.
"This is a typical unit in our behavioral health management unit," said Brown.
The 56-bed unit is the first of 18 to be renovated. There are changes that News19 was allowed to document and make public, and others that couldn't because the county cited security concerns.
News19 was allowed inside the jail the first week of December, but since then, the jail's problems have persisted. On December 13, investigators say two women escaped through holes in the ceiling. The pair are accused of stealing a contractor's vehicle and evading authorities before they were caught. Investigators say this all happened within a matter of minutes.
While that incident was not included in News19's interview with jail officials, Director Harvey spoke about previous escape attempts during our interview.
"Unfortunately, criminals are getting smarter," Harvey said. "It is what it is: criminality is not decreasing is increasing, wherever it's in the community or wherever it's in our local jails."
News19 checked into other reports of incidents at the jail. According to the Richland County Coroner's office, there have been 16 deaths there in 2023. Of those, seven deaths were determined to be of natural causes, one was a homicide, three were suicides, one a drug overdose, one accidental death, and three cases still pending. Investigators are also looking into multiple stabbings and alleged assaults.
"This is not supposed to be a long-term facility, it's not long-term medical care, it's not long-term mental health provider, it's not a long-term detention facility," Brown said.
Few who are housed at this jail would want to be here.
News19's cameras were not allowed inside other units where inmates are housed; however, previous images sent to News19 at the height of complaints about conditions at the jail provide a different picture of living conditions, including toilets overflowing, leaving standing water on the floor of units.
As the county works to renovate other dorms, back at the revamped behavioral unit, county leaders say the goal is to maintain calm for a controlled situation among the detainees. That's the reason they painted blue trim around the unit. Because in this unit., there will be one guard for every 56 detainees.
"Mood, they don't agitate, sense of calmness," he said. "The majority of our locking mechanisms that have issues are because detainees damaged them."
The jail was built almost 30 years ago. The renovations that News19 saw are the most comprehensive since its opening.
"People fly drones, they drop items here, and we have to try and deal with getting up there to get those items down because you have detainees who try to fish those items down from the roof to get contraband into the facility."
Security is key in a facility like this. According to the South Carolina Department of Corrections, there are 158 detainees charged with violent crimes who have been at this facility for more than a year. But Richland County says they're doing their part to make improvements, including salary raises for corrections officers and money for facility improvements. Among those are new locks, which Richland County deputies say have been compromised in cases where detainees assaulted each other.
"Updating these 18 units, with these locking mechanisms, throughout the county right now is estimated to cost us $3 million," Brown says. "Richland County wants to be better. We are taking action to be better. We're receiving feedback and making adjustments."
The SC Department of Corrections released a new inspection report into the Richland County jail this week. While the inspection found improvements, it also found things that need to change. Among the issues cited were holding cells being used for more than six hours of observation, violating policy.
They also found female convicts being housed with non-convicted inmates and not enough toilets available for detainees because many of them were broken.
The report also noted security lapses, including when a male inmate managed to enter female housing through the ceiling.