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I heard about a similar incident in the Santa Clara county jail. In that case, the inmate, ironically facing a federal counterfeiting currency charge, managed

I heard about a similar incident in the Santa Clara county jail. In that case, the inmate, ironically facing a federal counterfeiting currency charge, managed to make a skeleton key to the jail by cutting plastic from a jail-supplied Rubbermaid bin that was supposed to be used for storing personal property. The inmate got the general shape of the key by looking at it as guards passed by, then perfected it over a period of weeks by sticking it in the lock and attempting to turn it. The lock made marks on the plastic where the teeth were supposed to go. The inmate was caught and all plastic bins removed from the jail after the key was finally good enough to open the lock, which set off an alarm.

pestaa 14y ago
Why did the alarm was set off? Do these locks work only with a key that passes through electricity or have some other built-in secondary check? Really curious.
- downandout 14y ago
  Apparently there are parts of the Santa Clara County jail that are very old. This occurred in a dorm-style housing unit, and the key he made opened a stairwell door (the door to the stairwell being inside the housing unit, which is how he was able to repeatedly test without scrutiny). The door was alarmed and went off when it opened. Most modern jails don't use skeleton-style keys, and the doors are opened and closed electronically, but the part of the jail he was in was decades old.
  - jamornh 14y ago
    I think he was asking that if the guards can use a key to get through without setting off an alarm, why did this guy's key set the alarm off?
    - downandout 14y ago
      I'm not entirely sure, but I think that the door was not ordinarily used by anyone, something akin to the jail version of a fire exit. I believe it was set to alarm regardless of who opened it, but if an authorized person opened it, presumably they would let whomever receives the alarms know about it in advance and not send in an army of officers.
    - kalleboo 14y ago
      Presumably they disable the alarms before the guards open the doors, and enable the alarms when the prisoners are unsupervised. Like how you enable your house alarm when you leave, and then disable it when you return home.

pestaa 14y ago

Why did the alarm was set off? Do these locks work only with a key that passes through electricity or have some other built-in secondary check? Really curious.

downandout 14y ago
Apparently there are parts of the Santa Clara County jail that are very old. This occurred in a dorm-style housing unit, and the key he made opened a stairwell door (the door to the stairwell being inside the housing unit, which is how he was able to repeatedly test without scrutiny). The door was alarmed and went off when it opened. Most modern jails don't use skeleton-style keys, and the doors are opened and closed electronically, but the part of the jail he was in was decades old.
- jamornh 14y ago
  I think he was asking that if the guards can use a key to get through without setting off an alarm, why did this guy's key set the alarm off?
  - downandout 14y ago
    I'm not entirely sure, but I think that the door was not ordinarily used by anyone, something akin to the jail version of a fire exit. I believe it was set to alarm regardless of who opened it, but if an authorized person opened it, presumably they would let whomever receives the alarms know about it in advance and not send in an army of officers.
  - kalleboo 14y ago
    Presumably they disable the alarms before the guards open the doors, and enable the alarms when the prisoners are unsupervised. Like how you enable your house alarm when you leave, and then disable it when you return home.