DeKalb Sheriff asking for help

DeKalb Sheriff asking for help

Good evening i'm hunter petroviak.thanks for joining us tonight the dekalb county sheriff is asking for help.he says problems with the county's jail have mounted up..and could face some 'catastrophic' failures.fox 55's chris mullooly spoke with him and joins us live.chris... what does he say is wrong right now??well one main problem he says is the elevator which has been broken in the past... and would cost tens of thousands of dollars to repair.he says there are other possible problems looming.and patching one of the older jails in the state won't do much.he says he's working with commissioners... to formulate a plan for the future.

Kicking this can down the road for quite some timesheriff cserep says the problem has only grown in years.a jail untouched for the most part he says since the 1980s...one of the oldest in the state...and in need of major work.things are only getting worse the taxpayer money is only getting worseit was one of the points he brought up to dekalb county commissioners.he called it the 'elephant in the room'.because this is still sinking and still crackingone of the line items brought up to fix is the jails elevator...something that would cost tens of thousands of dollars...but is also instrumental to the jail.

Those days when we have the emergency when the jail elevator goes down and we're passing meals up the stairs 300 a daythe fixes would be just minor patches.he says what the jail needs is major renovations or an entirely new building.before they face the same fate as many other jails across indiana...facing a lawsuit infront of a federal judge.its not something we want to do..

Im a taxpayer i live in this county i dont want to spend money"but the jail is an immediate need... and could cost taxpayers more money down the road if its not fixed.that and deputy salaries... on the forefront of his mind.we need to do the right thinghe says deputies in dekalb are one of the lowest paid law enforcement officers in northeast indiana.some have left for other higher paying law enforcement jobs.cserep knows these will take time to fix...but says he feels commissioners are on his side... and are taking this need seriously.but like i said its a good team and support in this project sheriff cserep says the pandemic has made those budget constrints tighten for the jail and for officer salaries.

He says he knows these won't be solutions found in the next few days and weeks...but says having a plan for the future to work on... will make it easier on taxpayers..

And the department.reporting live ... chris mullooly... fox 55