Rogers County Jail Shakedown Ends With Weapons, Homemade iPod

A recent sweep of the Rogers County jail ended with potential weapons and contraband being confiscated by deputies.

Jailers do searches on a regular basis to look for homemade weapons and illegal contraband. They say inmates can take something so simple and turn it into something quite deadly.

The Rogers County Jail houses around 200 inmates on any given day. They call the cells home for an average of 108 days. During that time, there's no end to the type of things they can create and hide.

That's why, on a regular basis, the Sheriff's department use dogs to sniff for drugs, and deputies search each cell and common area thoroughly for weapons or contraband.

"For our jail population, staffing levels of corrections officers per inmate, it gets pretty scary," said Rogers County Sheriff Scott Walton.

Despite layers of security, some things still make their way behind locked doors. Inmates are just as creative with their hiding places as they are with their contraband.

The inmates are moved to central locations during the search. Some were unhappy their belongings were being searched, but privacy is not a concern when safety is at stake.

A needle was hidden inside a homemade cigarette, just one of several. There's ink they've saved from several ballpoint pins, to do their own tattoos. Even a contraption someone made to listen to music, including batteries and ear phones.

The search also uncovered a potentially deadly piece of broken glass and plastic spoons sharpened into pointy edges.

"You have somebody incarcerated 24/7, a lot of time to think about ways to hurt us," Walton said.

That's why it's so important Rogers County continue to do shakedowns.

Sheriff Walton has now created a stay for pay program at the jail. Inmates pay around $40 a day, that way taxpayers don't have to pick up the entire tab of running the jail.