Two top Sheriff candidates answer top questions ahead of election

NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) — Two major Sheriff candidates answered questions at a forum. It began with moderators asking incumbent sheriff Susan Hutson if attorney general Liz Murrill is still in charge of the May jailbreak investigation and why it seems to be moving at a slow pace.

Hutson says Murrill is in charge, but Hutson’s staff is collecting information that takes time to go through.

“There are 900 cameras in the jail. We got to look through all of those to tell a story. There are 1,400 tablets in the jail. We have to look through that information,” Sheriff Susan Hutson said.

Constable Edwin Shorty was asked why the jail needs to be assessed by a construction and corrections expert rather than a full-time maintenance crew.

Shorty says a maintenance crew is important for day-to-day work, but an expert is needed to solve the root of the problems.

“You got to have some kind of a full understanding of every deficiency that you got,” Shorty said.

Hutson then had the opportunity to share how she hopes to speed up how long inmates must wait before trial. She said she wants faster paperwork by the clerks and more ridged scheduling.

“If we continue to bring down the number of days that people were in custody, it will drop the population by hundreds,” Hutson said.

Shorty was then reminded of an earlier statement he made:

“If someone was arrested on simple battery, why release them to do another simple battery on you.”

“Look, for traffic citations, I get it. For simple possession of an illegal narcotic, I get it; but when somebody punches you. You want them to go to jail,” Shorty said.

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