According to my review of public records, average hold times at our jail are longer than what was documented at Rikers Island in 2023. The rate of stabbings at the jail is roughly equal to the rate at New York City jails, a DOJ investigation found — and the actual extent of violence is likely far worse, because both the county and the state have no way to accurately track every stabbing, rape or assault. On top of this, residents here are nearly three times more likely to be incarcerated here than they are in NYC. NYC jails hold more than 6,000 people across a city of 8.3 million. Richland County is currently holding around 1,010 people across a county of less than half a million.
100%. I am getting right now a denial from other law enforcement agencies where they are arguing with me that it's not a public record at all because it's produced by a third party.
I've been an investigative reporter for years, and now 3 years in S.C. dealing a lot with FOIA. There's a lot of ways you can push, but one way they can stonewall you without a good way to pushback is this high cost.
I have had so many issues with records requests with this law enforcement agency. Some I've been able to fight. But I'm getting exhausted. And this one quote just pissed me off. It's well known around here they act like this. People around here, they are complacent with how things are. I am not even sure if a local suit would help since a lot of this stuff is up to a judge's discretion.
Check with the EFF (https://www.eff.org/about/contact) if they'd litigate on your behalf, I'll talk to some folks on Monday. Success will be a function of how much pressure needs to be applied on the sheriff's office before they fold and satisfy the request.
