The Virtual Tour to Florida Prisons - Essay Example

? The Criminal Justice Outline Paragraph The Virtual Tour to Florida Prisons Paragraph 2: Main Detention Center Facility Paragraph 3: Population in Main Detention Center Paragraph 4: Community Services Division of Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office Paragraph 5: Divisions inside the Community Services Division Paragraph 6: FAQs Paragraph 7: Justice in Modern Technology I have never been to prisons but the website of Florida Department of Corrections has enabled me to take my virtual tour to the prisons of Florida. My only sight of prisons is those I have glimpsed in movies. This virtual experience has made me feel like I am really visiting the prisons but excluding the prisoners for I have witnessed only the death row cell, secure cell and cell housing unit, as well as the open dorm housing unit and the prison compound. Honestly, some of what I’ve seen have met my expectations while some have just not. What I’ve seen in the death row cell like it only accommodates one prison is expected for it is just like what I have viewed in movies. On the one hand, the sight of a secure cell and cell housing unit are also expected. However, when I have seen the open dorm housing unit, it is really something I have not imagined. Well, it is just that I have not visualized that prisoners can be housed as if they are just in a dormitory given that they are prisoned. In this kind of setting, the inmates are privileged to interact normally and closely to an open environment. Being an inmate housed in an open dormitory is really a benefit for being capable to interact to more people and also because they are situated in an open bay. And when you go outside the prison, its compound is really huge enough to see all its other buildings. On the overall, I can say that the Florida prison has an environment better than the other prisons and even far better than the slums in the third world countries. Through the virtual tour, I can say that the Florida prison is neat and orderly where prisoners can be treated fine enough as human beings. One among the prisons in Florida is the Main Detention Center. As Palm Beach County Sheriff Office states in its website, it happens to be the biggest building as it comprises a huge land area of 835,000 square feet and it is the most secured among the correctional facilities situated in a headquarter complex in West Palm Beach. This detention center is really huge enough to contain a total of 2,156 bed capacities including the beddings intended for services of infirmary and special management. In terms of population, Main Detention Center is housed with both males and females whose age can be adults or young adults. Majority of its prisoners are adult males who are not yet sentenced and are just about to go a court trial whereas the minority of the inmates are adult females who are just their first time to be jailed and those who are in need of such particular medical or mental condition assistance. It is important to note that main detention center also accommodates the young female adult as well as the young adult males. Through the website of Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office, it can be sensed that they have active participation on presenting services to their community through the Community Services Division. This division is further separated into four categories such as the Community Operations Bureau, Countywide Operations, Domestic Violence Unit and the Police Athletic League. Each group is specializing in a particular field in order to serve and protect the community. They all work together for the advantage of the community. In order to cut off the possibility of crime, the division of Community Operations Bureau of Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office has ensured a number of law enforcement officers to be delegated in each unit. Their preventive measures are dedicated to guarantee the value life among the citizens and as well as the advancement of its businesses. One among its services called Broken Star Fund is given to its dedicated workers together with their respective family members. Next is the Community Policing whose ultimate aim is to lessen the number of criminalities via crafting the community areas appear respectably good to expose to the possible offenders that the places are being cared for, so that the possible offenders may not attempt to get into their vicinities. To further upkeep the areas, a program called Crime Prevention Program through Environmental Design, which is basically supervising and owning the place, is used as a mechanism to further reduce the law-breaking incidence. This unit also focus to the origins more than the signs of the dilemmas. The community offers also a PSBO Explorer Program which invites the young individuals, the Junior Explorers, to get some immersion in the provided course by their community. Of course, the aim is to formulate the community to a non-violent and harmless environment for each citizen. Certainly, the unit which is solely devoted in stopping crimes is included in this community division. It is also good to note that they have a special course intended for the young adults who have committed a crime for the first time in order to teach the offender his or her lesson, to avoid him or her for repeating the crime, and also to possibly remove his or her criminal record due to committing the said offense. In its Countywide Operations, the community relations serves to link the differences and make each community connected as a whole. There also is a unit called Alternative Services Unit which supports the running of each unit at its best. The Countywide Operations is also consisted of the Reserves Unit , Volunteer Services Unit, and a Disabled Volunteer Parking Enforcement Program. Moreover, it is not just about community and countywide but there also is a special division that looks after the domestic issues which is called the Domestic Violence Unit. Lastly, to complete the list of community services they have is the Police Athletic League. On the one hand, the Palm Beach County Detention Center website also has prepared answers to the most frequently asked questions. Their website offers a very welcoming approach of letting its citizens know that the police officers are really ready to help them. Most asked questions on Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office are resolvable through the links provided in each answer. In order for an individual to distinguish if someone has been put behind bars before, it is made easy through the access to their online database. All that is needed is to input the information of that individual. Primarily stated questions are so general which are also answered in general like queries on how a disabled parking permit is obtained, on how to report objections on the behavior and attitude of a PBSO employee, on assets and finance of a prisoner, and even the jobs application on Palm Beach Sheriff’s Office. This section on FAQs also includes a section on emergency and the basic what to do and what not to do in cases of an urgent situation. In my comparison of the two visited webpages, I can say that the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office is friendly and accommodating in the sense that it does not actually incite the feeling of fear to its viewers. Its words are somewhat easy and comfortable to read which do not make me feel it really concerns crime issues. It is the case that my personal virtual experience of the tour to the prisons of Florida has made me feel that we are talking about real offenses and criminality here. This is for the reason that I am actually seeing bars and behind the bars. Although both have different impacts on me as I have visited their webpages and that Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office is a unit under Florida Department of Correction, I can say that both are operating together to fight and prevent crimes. Well, I can see that it is advantageous to the public because justice is easier and closer to its citizens by just a click in the web. The modern technology is making justice just nearby. Works Cited: Florida Department of Corrections. Home Page. Florida Department of Corrections. Florida Department of Corrections, 2011. Web. 4 Dec. 2011 Florida Department of Corrections. “Virtual Prison Tours.” Florida Department of Corrections. Florida Department of Corrections, 2011. Web. 4 Dec. 2011 Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office. Home Page. Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office. Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office, 2011. Web. 4 Dec. 2011. Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office. “Main Detention Center.” Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office. Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office, 2011. Web. 4 Dec. 2011 Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office. “Community Operations Bureau.” Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office. Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office, 2011. Web. 4 Dec. 2011. Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office. “Community Relations.” Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office. Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office, 2011. Web. 4 Dec. 2011. Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office. “Domestic Violence Unit.” Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office. Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office, 2011. Web. 4 Dec. 2011. Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office. “FAQ.” Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office. Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office, 2011. Web. 4 Dec. 2011. Read More