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Seven months after it was thrust into the spotlight as a haven for corruption, corrections officials opened up the 150-year-old Baltimore City Detention Center to show improvements that they say are making the facility safer. Read the story

Photos by Lloyd Fox/The Baltimore Sun

BALTIMORE JAIL OFFICIALS GIVE TOUR OF SECURITY IMPROVEMENTS

By Justin Fenton, The Baltimore Sun

Seven months after the Baltimore City Detention Center was thrust into the national spotlight as a haven for corruption, state corrections officials made the case Thursday that a series of reforms have significantly improved safety at the 150-year-old facility.

A long-sought phone-jamming technology system is nearing activation. A network of 230 high-definition cameras has been installed with a nerve center in the office of new jail administrator Ricky Foxwell. Corrections officers now pass through heightened security checks when they clock in for work.

“I think we’re well on our way,” Foxwell said as he showed reporters through the jail.

It was the first extensive public look at the facility since the April indictments of 25 people — 13 of them corrections officers — in a federal case that said Black Guerrilla Family gang members had taken over the jail.

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