Jake Shore and Justin Taylor, The Current
As part of the The Current‘s ongoing election coverage and candidate interviews, reporter Jake Shore and photojournalist Justin Taylor paid a visit to Camden County Sheriff Jim Proctor at the Woodbine office and detention center for an interview. While he won’t be on the main ballot on May 21, his challengers have put his spending and jail record foremost in their messages.
Proctor, first elected in 2012, said despite the negative headlines, deputy and jailor arrests and higher insurance costs, he has been fighting on behalf of citizens and the officers who work for him.
A key hurdle to stemming the tide of understaffing that, according to Proctor, has resulted in the six employee arrests and recurring jail violence since November 2022 is chronic underfunding of the jail.
To put it mildly, Proctor is frustrated. He said taking potential applicants for jailor positions through a tour of the jail is the worst part of the job process.
“We’ve had some of them that have turned down the job offer because they see the — pardon my language — the shit hole that they’re gonna have to work in,” Proctor said in the April 11, 2024 interview, “When they could go 30 minutes up the road and work in a brand new jail.”
The jail was built in 1987, and the last major renovation involved using a jackhammer on the floors to conduct plumbing work. That was around 2008, according to Chief Deputy Chuck Byerly. There has been continuous maintenance on leaks, broken air conditioning, and pipes in the walls.
Proctor said he has had to fight tooth and nail for raises for jailors and to complete seemingly simple tasks like replacing the hinges on the doors.
The sheriff said county commissioners have not been faithful stewards of taxpayer dollars, which paid in total $12 million in furtherance of the failed Spaceport project.Additionally, a decade of failing to audit and oversee the Public Service Authority budget resulted in more than $3 million stolen or diverted from county coiffers.
On how this spending impacted the underfunding of the jail, “I think it directly ties together,” he said.
The sheriff let The Current‘s photographer and public safety reporter tour the jail last month. Here is what we saw:
For the full slideshow, read here.
This story comes to GPB through a reporting partnership with The Current.
