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Georgia’s criminal gang crisis, in both urban and rural areas, is growing and more voices are speaking out for changes, especially long-overdue reform within the state’s prison system. The latest Paul Revere-type warning comes from Butts County Sheriff Gary Long who demands greater accountability and changes after authorities recently intercepted yet another shipment of drugs, weapons and other contraband allegedly headed to a state prison. 

In a statement shared on social media, Butts County Sheriff Gary Long said the seizure was not an isolated incident but part of a broader pattern that threatens the safety of both employees and inmates inside prison walls and in surrounding neighborhoods. “Every election, we hear promises about safer communities,” Long said. “But how can anyone promise safer communities outside the prison walls when the state can’t control what is happening inside them?” 

Long also points out that cities and counties all too often bear the cost when state prisoners are accused of committing additional crimes while incarcerated. He says that after completing their state sentences, those individuals could be transferred to county jails to face prosecution. County taxpayers then have to underwrite costs for housing, meals, medical treatment, transportation and lengthy court proceedings. “That is fundamentally unfair,” the lawman emphasizes. 

Long blasted the terrible conditions overseen by the state Department of Corrections, calling the prison system a “taxpayer-funded gang recruitment center.” (The department operates 34 state-run prisons, alongside various contracted private detention centers and other correctional and treatment facilities.) 

He notes figures indicating that more than 1,500 inmates have died in Department of Corrections custody since 2020. He attributed those deaths to factors including gang-related violence, inadequate medical care, suicide and broader systemic problems. Media reports over the years, along with governmental probes, have exposed problems ranging from poorly trained and underpaid employees helping and protecting inmates to guards and even an ex-warden participating in gang-related illegal activities.  

The sheriff warns that growing problems inside prisons allow gangs, drugs, violence and other criminal activity to spill outside prison walls into local communities. Since it is the political campaign season, Long further urges candidates and public officials campaigning on public safety– particularly those running for governor and for General Assembly seats– to move beyond slogans and focus on improving security and conditions inside Georgia’s prisons.” If you want to prove you’re serious about public safety, start where the state has the authority and responsibility to act: the prisons,” he underscores.