Sheriff makes changes at Cook County Jail

CHICAGO, Sept. 13 (UPI) -- Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart, in a speech to the City Club of Chicago, outlined steps he has taken to regain full control of one the nation's largest jails.

Dart has ended the inmates abilities to get an orange, buy packs of Ramen noodles and lean against metal fences for starters, the Chicago Sun-Times reported Thursday.

He has also taken away their right to watch "The Jerry Springer Show," as well as changed the style of toothbrushes, aerosol cans and lunch trays used in the jail.

He said jail stabbings have dropped 25 percent since 2004, and the number of shanks, makeshift knives, confiscated this year dropped from 38 in January to 16 in August.

This is partly due to the fact that inmates are no longer allowed to lean on fences and the screws used in their mirrors have been changed so that they cannot make shanks out of them.

Dart said he cut off oranges when he learned inmates were stashing them until they fermented, then using them to make booze.

He also announced plans to show more educational television inside the jail.