500 Cells Unlock Simultaneously At Maryland Jail


A glitch caused 500 cells to unlock at a Maryland jail on Saturday morning.

Authorities were forced to declare a security emergency after the doors opens automatically at the Montgomery County Correctional Facility. None of the prisoners who were housed in the unit attempted to flee when the doors automatically unlocked.

Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation director Arthur Wallenstein explained that a glitch in the electronic security system caused nearly 500 cells to unlock simultaneously over the weekend. Officials are currently looking into the situation.

“It’s definitely a problem. We must find the source of it. Any security door opening in an unexpected manner constitutes a major security problem,” Wallenstein explained to The Washington Post.

Saturday’s glitch wasn’t the first time that jail employees had to contend with cell doors automatically unlocking. Wallenstein explained that the same thing occurred earlier in the week. County maintenance and contract workers were investigating the problem on Saturday.

Officials explained that only the locks on the cell doors disengaged as a result of the glitch. Hallway and housing unit doors were unaffected by the problem. Although Wallenstein said that none of the people inside the jail attempted to escape, he said the problem with the system is very serious.

Jail employees called in the police perimeter as a safety precaution. Although none of the criminals tried to flee their cells, Wallenstein explained that the situation was treated as a security emergency.

Officials confirmed with the Daily Mail that it took nearly an hour to get all of the locks properly reset. Everything was back to normal by Sunday morning. Visitors and maintenance crews were once again allowed to visit the facility.

Although Wallenstein said the situation was being addressed, it’s currently unknown what caused the problem in the first place.

What do you think about the glitch that caused 500 cells to unlock simultaneously at a Maryland jail?

[Image via Shutterstock.com]

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