Union faults Camden County Jail's elevators

The elevators at the Camden County Jail have become so prone to mechanical failure that they are putting guards and inmates at risk, the corrections officers' union said Monday.

"If there's a fight or a medical emergency, we can't count on the elevators to be working," said Rob Parker, president of Policemen's Benevolent Association Local 351. "Response times have tripled. You're going up five flights of stairs in some cases."

The elevator problems have been an issue at the jail for years. But they have intensified since November. Only two of the jail's six elevators are running, Parker said.

On Thursday, there was an elevator malfunction, forcing guards to walk inmates up and down stairs and canceling visitor hours, Parker said.

County spokeswoman Joyce Gabriel acknowledged that the elevators were problematic but said the facility was running normally.

"There is no safety issue," she said.

Two of the elevators are scheduled to be replaced, Gabriel said. She said she did not know when that would occur.

This month, the county laid off almost 60 corrections officers to close what officials called a $43 million budget gap. The union opposed those layoffs, claiming they would impact officer safety.

The county freeholders were considering closing the more-than-two-decade-old downtown Camden jail until early 2010 and turning corrections over to a private contractor.

But that plan was scrapped after a reduction in the jail's inmate population, which two years ago was more than 400 inmates over capacity.

Also, fierce opposition arose from residents along Mount Ephraim Avenue, where one corrections company had filed an application to build a 143,000-square-foot jail.