By C1 Staff
BROWN COUNTY, Wis. — A computer server malfunction on Tuesday left about 490 inmates trapped in their cells for the better part of a week.
The Green Bay Press Gazette reports that the problem was fixed by Thursday afternoon.
The glitch affected the ability of staff members to lock and unlock the doors automatically; jail Lt. Phil Steffen said that there was a mass release function available in case of fire or other emergency.
The jail’s computer network also provided a clumsy work-around for opening and closing cell doors, but the quickest way to deal with the lockdown would have been to use keys for every function.
He said it was just easier to lock down the jail during the repair period.
“You try to keep the inmates and their families informed, and you make your apologies, but it’s just like everything else : things break down.”