MACON, Ga. — In the photo inside Bibb County jail sent in from a viewer, it appears most of the inmates were not wearing masks. When 13WMAZ got a tour of the jail Thursday, the majority of inmates were still not wearing masks, but a handful were.
"A lot of them have improvised masks, so they’ll take T-shirts or socks or whatever, so it makes it look like they don’t have masks or they’re not available, but they have them available to purchase," Davis said.
Sheriff David Davis says inmates can buy a mask for 50 cents through their commissary. He says masks are not mandatory unless an inmate is symptomatic or if inmates have been directly exposed to COVID-19.
"Once they get past the initial isolation period and they’re in the rest of the jail population, there’s not been any instance of a positive case in the jail, but if they’re prudent and want to wear a mask, then we’ll make them available as we get them," Davis said.
But Davis along with Monroe County Sheriff Brad Freeman says there’s a problem with just freely giving out masks to inmates.
"Inmates can find very innovative and inappropriate uses for anything you give them," Davis said.
"When you give them the masks, some are making a slingshot out of them, some of them are flushing them down the toilet and backing up the toilet trying to flood their cells," Freeman said.
"If you think about a person wearing two or three masks a day and the trash that can create," Davis said.
Freeman says they have enough masks and if an inmate wants one, they give them one. Davis says since the photos of overcrowding in the quarantining block, they have received additional donated masks that can be given to inmates.