MONROE - The Green County Jail will be installing a new system to track the hourly cell checks jail deputies make on inmates, after the sheriff said an ongoing death investigation revealed a need for more accuracy.
The investigation into the January death of Kyle Peotter, 17, showed "we need to be more exact," Sheriff Jeff Skatrud said. Each inmate must be checked on once an hour, 24 hours a day. Currently jail deputies are recording the times of these checks manually, leading to estimates and human error.
In the course of collecting evidence on Peotter's death, Skatrud said, investigators noticed the surveillance video tape didn't exactly match the times recorded for cell checks.
The new $5,900 system allows a jail deputy to touch a small flashlight-sized wand to sensors mounted near each cell. The sensor automatically records the time to a computer system.
"We have a real time, exact time of who, when and where," Skatrud said. The new system isn't entirely reliant on software technology - the jail deputy's observations still have to be entered manually.
Supervisors in the Green County Law Enforcement and Public Safety Committee approved the purchase of the system from an Ohio-based company at its monthly meeting Tuesday, May 14.
The death of Peotter remains under investigation. He was found unresponsive and not breathing in his cell bed early on the morning of Jan. 30. The coroner pronounced him dead at the jail. Early reports ruled out suicide or homicide.
Peotter's parents told the Times in March the teenager was "perfectly healthy" and they've hired an attorney to look into the case. They fear that "civilly his rights were neglected," his stepfather Michael DeGraff said.
The investigation into the January death of Kyle Peotter, 17, showed "we need to be more exact," Sheriff Jeff Skatrud said. Each inmate must be checked on once an hour, 24 hours a day. Currently jail deputies are recording the times of these checks manually, leading to estimates and human error.
In the course of collecting evidence on Peotter's death, Skatrud said, investigators noticed the surveillance video tape didn't exactly match the times recorded for cell checks.
The new $5,900 system allows a jail deputy to touch a small flashlight-sized wand to sensors mounted near each cell. The sensor automatically records the time to a computer system.
"We have a real time, exact time of who, when and where," Skatrud said. The new system isn't entirely reliant on software technology - the jail deputy's observations still have to be entered manually.
Supervisors in the Green County Law Enforcement and Public Safety Committee approved the purchase of the system from an Ohio-based company at its monthly meeting Tuesday, May 14.
The death of Peotter remains under investigation. He was found unresponsive and not breathing in his cell bed early on the morning of Jan. 30. The coroner pronounced him dead at the jail. Early reports ruled out suicide or homicide.
Peotter's parents told the Times in March the teenager was "perfectly healthy" and they've hired an attorney to look into the case. They fear that "civilly his rights were neglected," his stepfather Michael DeGraff said.