Original Article County moving inmate 'army' into 2 new jails starting today Judi Villa The Arizona Republic Apr. 15, 2005 12:00 AM The walkways and tunnels have been swept for metal over and over again. Inmate movements have been carefully orchestrated so rival gang members or die-hard enemies don't come anywhere near each other. Multiple routes have been meticulously chosen to prevent an ambush or an escape. Today is moving day for 2,630 jail inmates. Maricopa County is opening two new maximum-security jails at the same time in what is believed to be the largest jail expansion in U.S. history. "This will be gargantuan," said Capt. Charlie Johnson, who helped design the jails. "It's like getting an army moved from one place to another." Most inmates found out about the move this morning. They were to begin moving into the new Fourth Avenue Jail in downtown Phoenix at 3 this morning. Thursday night, mentally ill inmates and juveniles were moved into the Lower Buckeye Jail, near Lower Buckeye Road and 27th Avenue. Hundreds of other inmates will be moved into that jail later today. The Madison Street Jail, which is being vacated, will be closed for remodeling for two years. For security reasons, jail officials won't say how long the move will take. All jails are on "security override" until 8 a.m. Monday. No visitation. No phone calls. No mail. Even in a jail system where about 700 inmates are transported to court each day, moving so many inmates at once took months of planning. "Security-wise, we're going to get every resource we have," Sheriff Joe Arpaio said. "It may be overkill, but it's going to be difficult for anybody to cause a problem." Every detail had to be addressed, down to how much distance would be between inmates and what officers would tell inmates on moving day. "Every one of these inmates we're moving are maximum security," said Jerry Sheridan, the sheriff's chief of custody. "These are the bad guys in the system. That's why we have to take all these precautions." The most dangerous inmates moving from the Madison Street Jail to the Fourth Avenue Jail will walk 570 feet through an underground tunnel that officers have been sweeping with brooms and squeegees since Tuesday. "You can't be repetitive enough," Johnson said. About 700 inmates moving from the Towers Jail to the Lower Buckeye Jail will walk a quarter-mile route between the two facilities. An additional 1,200 inmates will move by buses and vans from Madison Street to the Lower Buckeye Jail and to the vacated beds at the Towers Jail. All inmates will move in pink underwear, pink handcuffs and flip-flops. "It's a security issue," Arpaio said. "If you let them wear their clothes, they can conceal the fake keys and everything else. When they have nothing on but their underwear, they can't conceal anything. It's not going to kill them in this weather to walk a few blocks in their underwear." The two new jails were funded by a one-fifth-cent sales tax approved by voters in 1998 and extended for 20 more years in November 2002. Combined, the jails cost $394 million and will provide an additional 4,473 beds for the overcrowded jail system. Currently, Maricopa County houses about 9,400 inmates, but that number is expected to hit 10,000 this year. With the new jails, bed capacity will be 9,669. Today, each inmate will be strip-searched and transported in a new pair of underwear. When they get to the new jails, they will be strip-searched again, given another new pair of underwear and their property will be X-rayed. Inmate property will be bagged in plastic instead of the typical cardboard boxes so the cockroaches that infest the Madison Street Jail aren't brought into the new jails. Inmates moving to the Fourth Avenue Jail also will sit in a special chair that X-rays their body cavities for contraband. Inmates walking over to the Lower Buckeye Jail will be chained in groups of 15. Tractor-trailers will block all public access to that facility. Streets will not be closed. The biggest x-factor is with vehicle transportation. Moving inmates through a tunnel or walking them between jail facilities is more controlled. With vehicles, there's the potential for accidents or ambushes. "We are concerned about getting moved safely through the intersections without stopping," said Deputy Chief Brian Sands, commander of the patrol bureau. "That's when you become vulnerable." Multiple routes have been chosen, and deputies will control the traffic lights. Yet earlier this week, two of the jails' buses were in the shop and the third wasn't looking good. "The only thing I'm crossing my fingers on is that the buses don't break down," Sheridan said. "The only thing we can't control is those buses."