If you were running a late lunch hour or happened to be in the area of the Berrien County Courthouse and Jail complex along the St. Joseph River between 1 and 2pm today, your first fear might have been that there was an emergency or a riot at the jail. Turns out it wasn’t anything nearly that exciting.
While there were at least half a dozen police squad cars and a firetruck on the scene during that time period, it wasn’t quite as dramatic as it may have appeared. Sheriff Paul Bailey tells me that the jailhouse renovations which have been ongoing for most of the year thus far sparked a little excitement when contractors accidentally struck a gas line in the newly expanded sallyport on the eastern end of the building off of Wayne Street at Main.
Bailey says natural gas service to the jail was immediately cut off, and there was no further danger. Additionally, nobody was hurt and the inmates were in no danger during the incident.
A sallyport, for those unfamiliar with the concept, is essentially a controlled and typically hardened or fortified entrance to the building through which prisoners arrive and depart the jail complex. The sallyport expansion project to help secure those who are incarcerated by establishing double sets of doors that can be barred independently from one another while also keeping out unwanted intruders. The term comes from days gone by when troops would “sally forth” from a fortress to head into battle.
The enlarged facility is designed to allow two police vehicles to arrive simultaneously and side-by-side within the fortified port for everyone’s expediency and safety.
Contractors launched the substantial renovation project tabbed at some $8.4-million early this year and it will result not only in the expanded sallyport, but also has already increased security upgrades and separate intake stations for male and female prisoners coming and going from the jail.
Also included in the jail upgrade project are a remodeled kitchen, padded cells for at risk inmates who might attempt self-harm, and even medical isolation cells to keep sick inmates from infecting others in the complex.
The extensive renovations are slated to be wrapped up sometime late this year or early next year, and has resulted in demolition and reconstruction work in and around the secure sallyport end of the jail.
So, if you were swept into the flashing lights and sudden flurry of activity in the early afternoon, now you know the rest of the story.
