By BILL POOVEY The Associated Press 2/15/01 9:28 AM

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) -- A high-tech alarm system connected to a lethal electric fence under which six inmates escaped in St. Clair County has a history of breakdowns, Alabama's corrections chief told lawmakers Wednesday.

Corrections Commissioner Mike Haley agreed with an estimate that the computer alarms on the $600,000 systems at St. Clair County Correctional Facility and at Donaldson Correctional Facility have worked about 90 percent of the time. The systems were installed in 1996-97.

"We did not know" at the time of the Jan. 30 escape that it wasn't working, Haley said.

Rep. Johnny Curry, R-Hueytown, asked Haley if he would use locks that work 90 percent of the time.

"How long do we go on with a system that we don't have but 90 percent faith in?" said Curry, who then acknowledged the prison system does not have enough funds or officers.

Haley said the fence and alarm system were purchased from a company in South Africa. A California company has the maintenance contract and keeping it operating has been a problem.

"We are certain it was not tampered with," Haley said.

Although declining to give details about a continuing investigation of the escape, Haley said the alarm did not work due to the failure of computer software that is supposed to set it off.

Tests showed the electric fence at St. Clair was conducting some 2,800 volts the day after the escapees, including three convicted murderers, lifted it using something Haley said included "glass insulators."

"If they had made contact it would have been lethal," Haley said.

The escapees were all captured in Tennessee after two days on the loose. They have resisted extradition and Haley told the lawmakers their return to Alabama would likely be "in the next few days."

He said the escape has prompted increased security, particularly at maximum security prisons where officers are in observation towers around the clock.

Haley has said the department has a severe shortage of officers. While depending on the high-tech fence at St. Clair, a tower about 100 feet from the escape site had no officer on duty.

He said the national average ratio of officers to inmates is 1-to-5, compared to 1-to-11 in Alabama lockups.

Haley said reaching the naitonal average would require Alabama adding about 2,500 officers.

"Of course we know that is not a reality," he said.

Haley said a training class is about to start for about 148 prospective officers, and that is all the money the department has available. The starting salary is $22,300.

Haley said he was unsure if all residents of St. Clair County who had asked to be notified in the event of an escape were contacted. But he said in any future escape, anyone who has asked to be called and has left a number at the prison will be contacted.

Haley released a report showing Alabama's inmate population has grown to 26,187, up from 16,545 in 1991. He also also handed out an American Correctional Association report showing that Alabama budgeted $9,781 for each inmate in 1999, the lowest in the nation and followed by $13,111 budgeted in Mississippi.

http://www.al.com/newsflash/index.ssf?/cgi-free/getstory_ssf.cgi?j6921_BC_AL-XGR--EscapeQuestio&&news&al_headlines

-- Anonymous, February 15, 2001