Inmates at the Saginaw County Jail in Michigan will trade their orange jumpsuits for black-and-white stripes because of pop culture. The sheriff doesn't want his prisoners getting confused with television stars.
Saginaw County Sheriff William Federspiel told
The Saginaw News that all-orange jumpsuits are increasingly viewed as fashionable, especially because they're seen on popular TV shows such as the Netflix smash hit "Orange Is the New Black."
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Federspiel said "some people think it's cool to look like an inmate of the Saginaw County Jail ... wearing all orange jumpsuits out at the mall or in public." He said inmates sometimes work in public, and he doesn't want there to be any confusion.
"I don't want them to not be easy to spot," he said. "That's scary. With the amount of people — it's not all across the country, but it's here in Saginaw. I see a lot of people wearing all orange, and they think it's cool. And some people even put 'Property of the Saginaw County Jail' on the back of it. I've seen that. It's like, 'What are you doing? Really?'"
"We decided that the black-and-white stripes would be the best way to go because it signifies 'jail inmate,' and I don't see people out there wanting to wear black-and-white stripes," he said.
The jailhouse fashions come relatively cheap. The sheriff said the jumpsuits, which last for about two to three years, cost $11.73 apiece, reported The Associated Press.
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