Arlington Detention Centre Visit - Essay Example

Running head: ARLINGTON DETENTION CENTRE VISIT Arlington Detention Centre Visit The Arlington County Detention Facility built in 1994 is home to about 600 prisoners of the Arlington Criminal Justice system. It is housed within the building of the Courthouse, which according to the Sheriff’s office, has the most technically advanced facilities for supervision. This seems to be true as, ever since its construction, not a single prisoner has ever been able to escape. The facility looks more like an office building than a detention center where prisoners are grouped together in residential units consisting of a jail cell, expansive dining hall and a prison yard. This essay would discuss my own personal experience I had when I visited ‘The Arlington County Detention Facility” and how I interviewed one of its inmates. This was my first experience and everything I saw or did there was something that would remain with me for the rest of my life. Visiting a Detention Centre is not something that we do often, and therefore I consider my visit as not only interesting but an experience that has served to trigger values such as sympathy and empathy and incorporate them into my own life. On taking a closer look at the detention centre, I felt that it was something different to what I expected. According to the jail administrators, disputes, riots, escape attempts and gory fights that are considered a common occurrence in regular jails, are actually extremely rare in the Arlington County Detention Centre. The officers on duty explain that it is more of a ARLINGTON DETENTION CENTRE VISIT 2 challenge to deal with the strong characteristics and personalities of the inmates than anything else. Our small group of three classmates which included my friends Janna, Alicia and myself were very curious and excited at the thought of visiting a detention center and meeting one on one, with one of the inmates. We had received an appointment for Thursday 04/24/2014 at 4.00 P.M and we were right on time and very enthusiastic to meet our respective inmates. They requested us to give our Id’s and told us to wait until someone came to take us inside. Soon we were taken to meet Sergeant D. Bowers, who took us to a visiting room where we were asked to wait for the inmate to arrive. The room was quite small and had a glass partition, where the inmate would sit on one side and we would sit opposite to them. We waited for about 20 minutes before the inmate made her appearance. We were quite surprised to find that the inmate was a middle-aged lady and she greeted us warmly with a smile. Her name was LaJeune Hyson, 53 years of age and she was quite friendly towards us. She explained that she was at the detention center for drug and alcohol abuse which later led her to involve in other criminal behavior such as stealing. She also told us that she had been on drugs sometime ago and had given it up for 12 years, but sadly she went back to drugs and since she also indulged in criminal behavior, she had to be put into this detention center. She explained that she began taking heroin in her teenage years and later she used Marijuana and other drugs, which finally made her an addict. ARLINGTON DETENTION CENTRE VISIT 3 LaJeune Hyson, sadly speaks of the reason for her relapse into drugs which was an incident that occurred in her life. The incident was a car accident, where she suffered severe injury and the doctors had prescribed a dosage of pain- killers, which once again led her down the path of drugs. She also claimed that her environment played a major role in her addiction because about 90% of her friends and associates were all drug addicts who were trying to recover from their addiction. She told us that she had loving parents, a happy childhood and was a very good student in school, until she got caught in a web of addiction. She also said that she feels sorry for her actions and now understands well about the negative impact of drugs and how it had spoiled her life. She deeply wanted to reform herself and intends to get back the good life she once had. However, LaJeune Hyson, was keen on making a clean break with drugs and make a good life for herself, so she enrolled herself into a group of 13 other women with the same intentions. The program which was called ‘Act Unit’ comprised of therapy classes which served to help inmates recuperate and rehabilitate themselves, so they could adjust themselves in a better way when they come back to living in the community and society. In fact, she very much looked forward to going home and reconnecting with all her family and friends. Within the Detention center many levels of inmates exist. There are those who are considered high security risks depending on their criminal records, while there are the ARLINGTON DETENTION CENTRE VISIT 4 ‘Workforce inmates’ who are known to be the better behaved than the criminals and are mostly seen wearing orange jumpsuits and are given jobs like preparing the food for the inmates and picking garbage around the County. Almost 1,900 meal trays are prepared everyday through the Aramark food program. Excess meals are donated to various charities. There are about 260 detention staff members that include civilians and 250 Sheriff Deputies. The average stay of an inmate is up to 32 days after which they are either transferred after sentencing or are released. We also asked her how she managed her time at the center and she informed us that they had a lot to occupy themselves with. Her day began at 8 a. m in the morning when they awake. Throughout the day they are well occupied by exercising at the gym, going to the library or even going to the kitchen where they were allowed to make themselves some food. Other classes, activities and therapies made up for the rest of the day up to 6 p. m in the evening. However, bedtime is around 10 p. m. every night. LaJeune Hyson, our inmate, also expressed that she had a set goal and vision for herself, and really regretted her previous behavior. She had been in the center for a year now and has kept herself clean off drugs or alcohol. She informed us that by becoming members of the ‘Act Unit’, their sentences were considerably reduced. She added that after making a clean recovery, she intended to get a job or go into business or she would become either a counselor or a therapist for other drug addicts and help to bring them back on the right ARLINGTON DETENTION CENTRE VISIT 5 track. She expressed that once she finishes her term at the center and goes back home, she would never ever make use of drugs again in her life. At the end of the interview we felt that we had learned something for life, from the point of view of the inmates. We felt that poor circumstances and neglect in their childhood had led normal people to do abnormal things. If they had better choices and guidance in their lives, I don’t think they would have traveled this bitter path. We wished our inmate, LaJeune Hyson all the best and told her that we believed in the aspirations she had for leading a better life. Then we left the room after our goodbyes. Sergeant D. Bowers then took us on a tour around the campus and it was from him that we learned many things. He explained that all the inmates were not treated in the same way, but were segregated into different categories depending on the type of crime they had committed. Some of them were hardcore criminals and had committed capital crimes such as murder, rape and extortion and these criminals were not allowed to walk freely on the campus. This group was kept in a totally different part of the detention center because they were dangerous to the other inmates. He also told us that each of the different groups wore different color wrists bands to differentiate themselves from the other groups. Those who had committed small offences had to wear white bands while the ones who had committed the biggest crimes wore yellow bands. Next we were taken to the actual rooms of the criminals to get a better idea of what it was like. The room was quite small and had very few pieces of furniture that included a bed, a ARLINGTON DETENTION CENTRE VISIT 6 desk and a chair. There was a small toilet area that had a toilet seat, a sink and a mirror on one side. Except for these items, nothing else was found in the room because if there were other objects they could use these to harm themselves and others too. We felt very anxious and nervous because the inmates moved all around us, but the sergeant assured us that no harm would be caused. Some of the inmates even attempted to speak with us, but we did not answer them as we were apprehensive of their behavior. Sergeant Bowers also showed us the Library, the gym and the kitchen which were at the disposal of all the inmates for their use. He also informed us that men and women had separate areas for staying but totally the jail could house around 300 to 600 members at any given time. The inmates were allowed to have family visits which were only about 40 minutes each week. The officers had a separate dining area and another open area with lots of plants, where they could enjoy their breaks. He also showed us a special unit where those who break the rules or misbehave are sent to. He referred to this room as disciplinary segregation, where the inmate is kept all alone for a certain number of hours. This room is completely empty except for a small hole through which he could have a glimpse of the outside world. This detention could last for a couple of hours or maybe days, depending on the kind of misconduct. ARLINGTON DETENTION CENTRE VISIT 7 In 1998 an incident occurred in the Facility where an officer sexually assaulted a female inmate. This was not taken lightly and the Arlington County Sheriff’s Office (ACSO) began an act for the prevention of sexual assaults within confinement in 1998, which also integrated the PREA (Prison Rape Elimination Act) into its everyday operations. “We didn’t do this overnight. It took a lot of planning, a lot of time, and the support and help from top levels of leadership… but incremental changes are possible and should be acknowledged.” (Arthur, PREA) The ACSO had revised their staff policies, educated inmates on how to combat such situations and prevent them along with a revision in the inmates’ jail handbook. They also developed the Code of Ethics and Conduct, Inmate Sexual Assault policy, Reporting Sexual Misconduct and also created anInmate Orientation Brochure. The ACSO has partnered with national experts and community agencies to facilitate the criminal justice system. References The Arlington County Detention Facility. National PREA Resource Center. Web Retrieved on 3rd May 2014 http://www.prearesourcecenter.org/training-technical-assistance/prea-in-action/prea-readiness/arlington-profile-page Sheriff. Detention Facility. http://sheriff.arlingtonva.us/detention-facility/ REFERENCES ARLnowcom Arlington Va Breaking News Opinions Community Happ[…] A Look Inside the Arlington County Jail Date Accessed: April 30, 2014 http://www.arlnow.com/2010/08/06/a-look-inside-the-arlington-county-jail/ Read More