Inmates at the Catawba County Detention Facility got a wardrobe change on Monday with the arrival of new fuchsia and lime green prison uniforms.

The Sheriff’s Department began changing out the uniforms for its 223 prisoners being held at the Catawba County Detention Facility Monday morning.  A prisoner’s escape in February prompted the color change.

One purpose behind a prison uniform is so that in the case an inmate does escape into the community, the person can easily be identified as a prisoner and reported to authorities, according to Coy Reid, with the Catawba County Sheriff’s Department.  It’s a matter of public safety, he said.

“Both of these (uniforms) stand out,” Reid said.

The department has also changed to one-piece jumpsuits to further reduce the confusion with scrubs.  In addition, Reid said it prevents the male prisoners from wearing their pants low and exposing themselves to female prison guards, which he said has been a problem with the current prison wardrobe.

Although the Sheriff’s Department was already due to order new uniforms, Joseph Preston Salser’s escape from a prisoner transportation vehicle on Feb. 6 prompted the change in uniform color.  Salser was en route to the Hickory courthouse for a hearing when he freed himself from his handcuffs using a paperclip and forced the bar in the door that controls the door functions up allowing him to escape.  He jumped from the vehicle while it was parked at a stoplight on N.C. 127 near Second Avenue S.E.

Salser ran into the Kenworth neighborhood, where police spent most of the day searching for him without success. Salser later told police he came out from his hiding place in an storage shed when it got dark and headed down to U.S. 70 where he was seen at Mike Johnson’s Hickory Toyota.  Salser was found the next morning in the bathroom of Prime Sirloin on Lenoir-Rhyne Boulevard about 5:30 a.m. on Feb. 7.

The fact he didn’t have a uniform that was easily identified as a prison outfit made it easier for Salser to hide, Reid said.  He said the former uniforms were a dark navy two-piece, which resembled the scrubs nurses wear and could also be mistaken for a mechanic’s work attire.

“If (Salser) had been wearing this, he would have been spotted (sooner),” Reid said, as he held up the lime green uniform.

He doesn’t suspect that will be a problem with new fluorescent green uniforms for the men and fuchsia for the women — each with “Catawba County Jail” printed in black block letters across the back.

Reid said 500 new uniforms were ordered at a cost of $9.20 each, 20 cents cheaper than the current uniforms.  Of those, 400 are men’s uniforms and 100 are women’s uniforms.  The jail is currently holding 202 men and 21 females on criminal charges.

On a lighter note, he said the new prison attire could have another positive effect.

“Plus, brighter colors are more cheerful,” Reid said.  “Maybe it’ll keep them in a better mood.”