he fought for and helped design three expansions to the jail, the largest consisted of two new buildings that opened in 2010, which more than doubled inmate capacity to 1,900. they were designed with better security systems and open bay housing units which provide inmates with less confinement and more freedom of movement. we insisted that people who worked in the detention facility have an opportunity to provide input into the design. that also helped the morale, which after having been so overcrowded for so many years, was pretty low. shortly before the new buildings were opened the county council voted to dedicate the entire facility to sheriff cannon, stating over his long years of service he molded the sheriff s office into a premier law enforcement agency. i m honored. would i rather have it on a school? yeah. but this is who i am and what i do.
which more than doubled inmate capacity to 1,900. they were designed with better security systems and open bay housing units which provide inmates with less confine month and more freedom of movement. we insisted that people who worked in the detention facility have an opportunity to provide input into the design. that also helped the morale, which after having been so overcrowded for so many years, was pretty low. shortly before the new buildings were opened the county council voted to dedicate the entire facility to sheriff cannon, stating over his long years of service he molded the sheriff s office into a premier law enforcement agency. i m honored. would i rather have it on a school? yeah. but this is who i am and what i do. everything good with you? maximum security inmates are still housed at the older section of the jail where they
their back. al cannon began his career as a charleston county patrol officer in 1971, and was elected sheriff in 1988. he fought for and helped design three expansions to the jail, the largest consisted of two new buildings that opened in 2010, which more than doubled inmate capacity to 1,900. they were designed with better security systems and open bay housing units which provide inmates with less confine month and more freedom of movement. we insisted that people who worked in the detention facility have an opportunity to provide input into the design. that also helped the morale, which after having been so overcrowded for so many years, was pretty low. shortly before the new buildings were opened the county council voted to dedicate the entire facility to sheriff cannon, stating over his long years of service he molded the sheriff s office into a premiere law enforcement agency. i m honored.
like many jails throughout the nation, the sheriff al cannon detention center in charleston, south carolina, is named after a man officials believe has had a stellar record and significant accomplishments. though it s usually someone who s retired or deceased. al cannon, however, is not only alive and well, he s still the sheriff. and has been for more than a quarter of a century. how are you doing? all right. i actually don t spend a whole lot of time over here. part of my management philosophy is you have to trust your people. i think they appreciate the fact that i have enough confidence in them that i m not breathing down their back. al cannon began his career as a charleston county patrol officer in 1971, and was elected sheriff in 1988. he fought for and helped design three expansions to the jail, the largest consisted of two new buildings that opened in 2010, which more than doubled inmate capacity to 1,900.
beds, where you had a one-person cell, you had two in it. where you had a two-person cell, you had three. we were so badly overcrowded that we were facing federal sanctions. funded by a tax initiative, the jail underwent a major expansion adding 400,000 square feet of space. nearly doubling the inmate capacity to more than 2,300. then crime rates in savannah took an unexpected turn. after the jail reconstruction we dropped to 1,800 inmates, then to 1,700, then to 1,600. right now we re around 1,500 inmates. this is a trend that we re seeing nationally. the crime rate is down. it s hard to believe looking at the news that it s down because violent crime is so spectacular it generates news. and we re still having some bad people come in here. but that population has held fairly steady. and to us, that s a good thing.