The disturbance began about 9:30 p.m. when about a dozen inmates refused to go into their cells.
GREENFIELD - The Franklin County Jail remained in lockdown Friday morning following a Thursday night disturbance that began when about a dozen inmates refused to return to their cells for the night.
No injuries were reported in the disturbance which began about 9:30 p.m. in the top tier of Pod A. said Franklin County Sheriff Christopher Donelan.
“They refused to go in and started breaking things, throwing furniture over the railing,” Donelan said.
Correctional officers locked down the facility and the department’s Tactical Response Team took the inmates into custody and placed them into other secure parts of the facility. All inmates were secured by about 1:30 a.m., Donelan said.
The incident prompted a response from officers and K-9 units from the Greenfield Police Department, state police and the University of Massachusetts police. Greenfield firefighters were summoned to the facility as a precaution, Donelan said.
Investigators are still attempting to determine what touched off the disturbance. “There were no signs or indications that there had been any problems,” said Donelan, adding the he had been in Pod A earlier in the day.
Investigators are reviewing video footage “to see who started it, who did what to who,” Donelan said.
Such large-scale disturbances are rare for the jail, which has about 275 inmates. The last time similar incident occurred was in 1995, Donelan said.
Donelan said that the continued lockdown means that there is no co-mingling of inmates, no free time. “Everyone is basically in their cell and will stay in their cell,” he said.
It was not immediately clear Friday morning when the lockdown might be rescinded. “We will play that by ear depending on the staffing and the safety of the facility,” Donelan said.