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Authorities have now captured a fifth inmate who escaped from New Orleans' largest jail late last week. As the search for the remaining escapees continues, local leaders are facing the fallout from the security failure. Matt Bloom with member station WWNO has this report.
MATT BLOOM, BYLINE: At an emergency city council meeting this week, Orleans Parish Sheriff Susan Hutson appeared in uniform to face a barrage of questions. In her opening remarks, she called the jailbreak unacceptable.
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SUSAN HUTSON: As your sheriff, I take full accountability for this failure. And it is my responsibility to make sure it is addressed with urgency and transparency.
BLOOM: Ten inmates escaped just after midnight last Friday, and it wasn't until after a routine check around 6:45 a.m. that morning that any staff noticed. Councilman JP Morrell asked Hutson why it took another three hours after that to notify other law enforcement agencies.
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JP MORRELL: That's just weird. You guys should be lockstep when something like this occurs.
HUTSON: So when we have to search this facility with 1,400 people in it, 24 pods, you - that takes a minute to be able to do.
BLOOM: After her comments, Sheriff Hutson said on social media that she's suspending her reelection campaign. Her term ends in May of next year. A state lawmaker is calling on her to resign immediately. Meanwhile, state police arrested a janitor and two people they say helped the inmates escape and hide. Two deputies are under investigation for possible involvement, as well.
Over 200 agents are still looking for the remaining escapees. They're getting help from controversial facial recognition technology that relies on a private network of cameras. It helped them catch and arrest at least one of the inmates. The 5,000 cameras are run by a nonprofit called Project NOLA. They entered all the faces of the escapees. Bryan Lagarde runs Project NOLA.
BRYAN LAGARDE: It just took literally a fraction of a second for them to look up towards the camera, and then the automation - within that - probably that same second, the alerts went out.
BLOOM: Those alerts go to the Louisiana State Police and the FBI, but not to New Orleans police. That's because a 3-year-old city ordinance limits the use of the technology. The ACLU says facial recognition by law enforcement raises privacy concerns and can lead to wrongful arrests. The escapees who were caught so far are being held at the state prison in Angola and face additional charges.
For NPR News, I'm Matt Bloom in New Orleans.
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