More than a week since 10 inmates from a jail in New Orleans, Louisiana escaped, five are still on the run, while five others have been found by authorities. The New Orleans Advocate reported there have been at least seven people booked on suspicion of helping those who left the facility.
The latest arrest was of Emmitt Weber, 28. Weber was arrested as an accessory after the fact of simple escape on Friday, May 23. He was one of four occupants at a New Orleans home who was suspected of assisting the inmates, police said, according to the New Orleans Advocate.
Fallout from escape
The inmates broke out of Orleans Parish Justice Center on Friday, May 16. Surveillance video previously released showed two escapees calmly walking along an empty street in the city’s French Quarter. According to the Associated Press, the ten men opened a faulty cell door inside the jail, and moved a toilet to squeeze through a hole.
Most of the inmates are likely still in New Orleans, the police superintendent said. More than 200 members of law enforcement are looking for them.
Orleans Parish Sheriff Susan Hutson has been issued a state grand jury subpoena that asked for records related to the escape, the New Orleans Advocate reported. In addition, the subpoena requested video evidence from the jail as well as copies of policies and protocols for in-shift headcounts, inmate lockdown times and security measures to prevent escapes.
Orleans Parish District Attorney Jason Williams also wants work lists for the days surrounding the inmates’ escape; records on the cell’s escape work and cell and tier assignments for the escapees, according to the newspaper. Hutson has until June 2 to hand over these items.
Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office on Wednesday, May 21 said it is working “around the clock” to find the inmates.
“The escape of 10 individuals from the Orleans Justice Center is unacceptable. It is deeply troubling to me as your sheriff, and I know it is equally troubling to you and the public that we are sworn to protect. As your sheriff, I take full accountability for this failure,” Hutson said at a news conference.
Police offer reward as officials have concerns
The Associated Press wrote that authorities are offering $20,000 in rewards for tips leading to the arrest of the escapees.
Several of these escapees include men who were first put in jail as teenagers, city councilmember Freddie King III said at a public meeting reported on by the AP.
“Are we doing enough as a society, as a city, to ensure that our young, specifically Black men, don’t end up in jail?” he asked.
Stella Cziment, the independent police monitor of New Orleans, said there’s been a “history of bad blood toward Orleans Parish incarceration systems.”
Cziment, per the AP, said residents might be “reluctant” to work with the Louisiana State Police as a result of them carrying out actions such as homeless encampment sweeps.
In addition, a U.S. Department of Justice report showed that the Louisiana State Police has used excessive force. However, the Justice Department announced on Wednesday, May 21 that it is dismissing the Biden-era investigations into the Louisiana State Police, along with law enforcement agencies in Memphis, Tennessee; Mount Vernon, New York; Oklahoma City; Phoenix, Arizona and Trenton, New Jersey.
Federal monitoring efforts have been put into place at New Orleans’ jail to improve conditions, as security problems and violence have plagued it.
NBC News wrote that issues include overcrowding, understaffing, defective technology and malfunctioning doors.
In response, Hutson said that the jail has improved conditions, but she still has about half the staff members she actually needs to run the jail.
