COLUMBIA, S.C. — Yet another employee at Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center has been arrested and charged with concealing contraband at the Richland County jail. This arrest, coming on Sunday, Feb. 11, makes the ninth detention guard arrested since January 1 and the eighth on contraband charges.
According to the Richland County Sheriff's Department's (RCSD) incident report, a deputy responded to the detention center at 201 John Mark Dial Dr. around 11:33 p.m. Sunday. The report states an employee, identified as Shatata Jameca Smith, 26, was discovered bringing contraband into the detention center. According to officers, the contraband items included a cloudy white rock substance placed in three separate clear plastic bags found in Smith's pink and white Hello Kitty tumbler/cup and a packet of white round pills buried under pasta in her dinner bag.
The alleged narcotics were taken into evidence and tested at the RCSD Pineview Office and determined to be 99 oxycodone pills labeled RP/10 325, while the white substance was identified as crack cocaine with a field weight of 6.4 grams.
Smith was arrested and charged with Misconduct in Office 17-25-30, Introducing Contraband in a County Jail Facility 24-07-0155 {4 Counts), Possession With Intent to Distribute Crack Cocaine 44-53-375, and Possession of Schedule II 44-53-370. She has been booked into Alvin S Glenn Detention Center.
Alvin S Glenn is under investigation by the US Department of Justice over allegations the jail is violating inmates' civil rights with credible allegations the facility is structurally unsafe and that there have been sexual assaults, homicides, and prevalent violence resulting in serious injuries. Of the nine employees arrested since January 1, 2024, eight have been charged with bringing contraband into the jail and misconduct in office. The ninth arrest, on Feb. 9, was a guard charges with Assault and Battery High and Aggravated Nature, Assault 3rd Degree and three counts of Misconduct in Office.