By Wallace White, DCNF. View Of Hallway From Jail Cell (File) FULTON COUNTY, Ga. - There were more stabbings in Fulton County Jail than violent cr
FULTON COUNTY, Ga. – There were more stabbings in Fulton County Jail than violent crimes committed with a knife or other “cutting instrument” in all of its surrounding city of Atlanta, Georgia, in 2023, according to new government data.
A Department of Justice (DOJ) report published Thursday listed 314 people as being stabbed in the jail in 2023, while there were only 269 instances of all violent crimes involving a knife in Atlanta that same year, according to the Atlanta Police Department (APD) data reported to the FBI. Fulton County Jail also had more stabbings in a single month than Miami-Dade County Jail had in a whole year, despite Miami-Dade housing 1.5 times more people, according to the report.
READ: Southwest Airlines Flight Struck By Gunfire While Taxiing In Dallas
“I had knives put to my throat, and I had to call my mom telling them, please wire somebody some money or I’m going to be killed,” a detainee at the jail told the DOJ in September 2023. “Nobody should be subject to that at a jail where you’re supposed [to] be waiting to get your day in court.”
Of the 293 violent crime instances in the city reported by the APD, 244 incidents with knives were aggravated assaults, 17 were robberies, three were rape, and five were homicides, according to the FBI.
Fulton County Jail’s official capacity is 1,125 people; however, according to the DOJ report, the jail reached 3,400 in July 2022. Due to overcrowding, 366 people were in temporary beds on the floor of the jail in 2022.
READ: Georgia Jail Faces Federal Scrutiny Over Horrific Conditions: DOJ Report
From 2022 to November 14, six people died from attacks in the jail, according to the DOJ report. Moreover, emergency medical services in the prison were “grossly deficient” in providing care, with the non-homicide and suicide mortality rate in 2022 being three times the national rate for 2019, the most recent year with nationwide data.
The mortality rate is also likely undercounted due to some deaths occurring outside of jail, such as one case where an inmate died in hospice care and was not counted in the total from the jail, according to the DOJ report.
Please make a small donation to the Tampa Free Press to help sustain independent journalism. Your contribution enables us to continue delivering high-quality, local, and national news coverage.
Android Users: Download our free app to stay up-to-date on the latest news.
Connect with us: Follow the Tampa Free Press on Facebook and Twitter for breaking news and updates.
Sign up: Subscribe to our free newsletter for a curated selection of top stories delivered straight to your inbox.
