FULTON COUNTY, Ga. — Imagine going behind bars in one of the most dangerous jails in the country.
It's what more than a dozen people did when they went undercover to help the Fulton County Jail gain new insight into what's happening inside the facility.
It is part of a docu-series called "60 Days In" that included a local teacher, social workers and public health professionals who had never been to jail.
The Atlanta season premieres this week on A&E.
The volunteer inmates received training and then spent months behind bars. The guards and staff and no idea they were undercover and treated them like any other inmate.
Channel 2 Action News got inside and talked to the chief jailer about incarceration.
“Jail is a dangerous place," Col. Mark Adger Fulton County Chief Jailer said. "All the people that society doesn't want walking the streets end up here and they don't come here wearing their Sunday best, ready to go to church."
Adger said he agreed to the experiment because he wanted to deal with problems at the jail head on.
He took us into one of the pods.
"They were able to catch everything. And these were pan/zoom/tilt cameras," he said.
Adger said he agreed to the experiment because he wanted to deal with problems at the jail head on.
He took us into one of the pods.
"They were able to catch everything. And these were pan/zoom/tilt cameras," he said.
The volunteers were people who had never been to jail before.
Adger said they faced the same risks as any other inmate. He admitted there is a dangerous gang culture inside, where some criminals refuse to change their ways.
"They’re trying to do the same things in the jail they were doing out on the street. We have to control that. I learned how to do that better," Adger said.
One change he said the jail staff has made so far is improving searches, finding drugs, cell phones, and weapons smuggled in and trafficked among inmates.
"We learned we have to double down on that, go back to jail 101, and do the things that have to be done,” Adger said.
He said it was worth it to get the information he needed.
"I’m glad I did it. Very happy I did it,” Adger said. “No regrets."
Cox Media Group
