GREENWOOD (KFSM) - The Greenwood Police Department will purchase a more secure design of cages for its police cars.
The new cages "will have an additional cage material over openings, making it impossible to climb through," said Greenwood Police Chief Will Dawson in a statement.
The switch in designs comes after Jessica Sterling was able to climb through the partition in a police cruiser and drive away, before eventually crashing it into a gas well Tuesday (June 17).
Dawson said the new cages will be mostly made of steel, and that the police department is currently taking inventory of its cars.
The police department also will conduct training classes to teach officers how to make sure the hand-and-foot restraint the department uses is securely attached when suspects are detained, according to Dawson. That restraint is called a hobble.
Dawson said Sterling was able to remove the hobble, allowing the suspect to climb to the front of the cruiser and drive off.