More people are locked up inside the Cook County Jail than any time in the last six years.
Right now, there are more than 10,000 people living in a jail, that's at 98 percent capacity.
While Chicago Police say overall crime is down, the jail population is rising, up nearly 4 percent in the past 11 days.
There is a cocktail of causes, from more arrests to slower court proceedings.
It's now gotten so bad that inmates are being shipped to other facilities outside of Cook County.
"Nobody is here for missing church so you really don't want to get too close to somebody," said Sgt. Charles Brazelton.
Easier said than done.
A pair of minimum security dorms is home to 680 inmates, just four away from maximum capacity.
"There are occasions when things get a little out of hand because of the amount of detainees I have," said Sgt. Charles Brazelton.
Staff is stretched and some inmates are in limbo.
Natale Saraceno is here on a retail theft charge, serving what's known as "dead time" while he awaits an open bed at drug treatment facility.
"I'm waiting patiently," Saraceno said. "It's in the court order so it's got to happen. I don't know when."
"The logistics part is a nightmare," said Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart. "Just trying to move people and feed them is a nightmare."
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