GALVESTON COUNTY TAXPAYERS STUCK WITH COST OF PEPTO BISMOL UNIFORMS FOR JAIL INMATES

Galveston County's new jailhouse uniforms met with widespread mockery

The "safety pink" threads inspired both jokes and serious questions about local funding.

 

By Chris Gray

 

Chron

Feb 26, 2025

 

 

New Galveston County Sheriff Jimmy Fullen holds up one of the county jail's new uniforms, a decision that has inspired many jokes since Monday night.

 

 

Inmates of the Galveston County Jail are wearing a smashing shade of "safety pink" this spring, part of a new initiative by the Galveston County Sheriff's Office to "foster a positive environment within the correctional facility."

 

The department's announcement of the new uniforms Monday night sent keyboard comedians from Bacliff to Jamaica Beach rushing to crack their best Mean Girls and Squid Game jokes. Others grumbled that the county could perhaps find better ways of spending taxpayers' money.

 

The idea behind the new duds is to "discourage recidivism, enhance visibility for corrections officers in identifying potential threats, and create a calming atmosphere, as the color pink is believed to help alleviate feelings of anger," the sheriff's office said on Facebook.

A pair of photos accompanied the announcement: one of grinning newly elected sheriff Jimmy Fullen holding up one of the new jumpsuits, and one of the about 30 inmates who had "volunteered" to model their new duds. The public wasted little time dissecting the group photo, with some commenters singling out one inmate they found especially attractive. ("I can fix him," one woman wrote.) Others focused on a man at the edge of the group who looked like he'd rather be anywhere else. ("He looking at them like 'you dumb mfs'.")

The sheriff's office did not respond to Chron's request for comment, but it was on after that. Not all of the jokes that followed the post are worth repeating, but here are a few of the better ones:

* "New Mardi Gras krewe. They look fab!"
* "Like a sea of Pepto Bismol"
* "Suddenly I'm not so scared to throw hands"
* "Where was this when I was locked up smh"
* "What about a nice powder blue or a light teal?"
* "Inmate calendars are next"
* "Am I the only weirdo that wants one?"

Amid the shoutouts to Chappell Roan's recent hit "Pink Pony Club" and Lil Nas X's "Industry Baby" video, however, a few commenters attempted to raise more serious points. In the Galveston Island Crime Watch group, one woman alluded to the mass resignations from the sheriff's office, many from its mental health division, just before Fullen took office. The sheriff has since said he plans to train every deputy to handle mental-health calls.

"You're going to tell me that we don't have money for even one assigned mental health deputy and we have money for this?," wrote the concerned citizen.

A few Facebook users suggested using the funds that went to the new uniforms for educational programs to either help the inmates learn marketable skills or to prevent them from going to jail in the first place. Others noted that Joe Arpaio once outfitted his inmates in pink underwear (and pink handcuffs) and ultimately had to be pardoned by President Trump. (The pardon cleared the controversial former sheriff of Arizona's Maricopa County of a criminal contempt conviction.)

One woman simply questioned the effectiveness of using color-coded attire to deter criminal behavior.

"I'm curious what research concludes that the next time a previous offender wants to steal, etc., they'll think to themselves, 'but if I get caught, I'll have to wear pink! I'm scared straight!'," she said.

And if the inmates weren't already in jail, a few eagle-eyed commenters would have sent them there for fashion crimes alone. Said one, "Now they just need matching shoes..."

"Nice," said another. "Now give em socks. Cause ew."