 Lewis County Jail |
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Control 1 (Main Control) Officer Brown |
 Quanset Hut & Double wide trailer |
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 Control 1 (Main Control) Officer Brown |
 Quanset Hut Toilets |
I have placed the statistics for the main facility at the top of the page for two reasons. The first is so that I can have them stated and out of the way and the second is to give an impact as to how high our inmate numbers have gone up and how our officer numbers remain the same. This is a reality in many of our small jails today.
I have been working in this jail since the day that it opened its doors. I remember walking around the halls and housing units wondering how we were ever going to get accustomed to all the room we now had. Even though this jail opened with the same number of beds as our old jail, it had so much to offer in space. I would like to walk down memory lane with you for a moment and describe a jail as it matures and becomes what it is today, A VERY CROWDED FACILITY.
On the day that we moved inmates from the old jail to the new jail, we used our K-9 unit to assist with the escorts. This was impressive since it made the move of approx. 45-50 inmates that much easier. Once all the bodies were moved over to the new jail we still had empty bunks. The jail was clean and had that new building smell. We had brand new uniforms, bedding, mattresses and furniture. The facility was made up of areas that allowed for a true classification system. The minimum security unit was an open dorm with twelve bunks in it. The medium security units would house ten each, these rooms had wooden doors, wooden tables and porcelain sinks and toilets. The maximum security units had four rooms each and had metal doors and stainless toilets and sinks. This jail was built as a maximum security facility and was designed for indirect supervision.
The year that we moved into the facility, smoking was still allowed. I remember passing out ashtrays to inmates and making sure that the inmates did not throw cigarette butts on the floor. I also remember the booking area being blue with smoke from both officers and inmates smoking during the booking process. Cigarettes were the biggest seller on the commissary list and tobacco was given out freely to all indigent inmates, TOP was our facility brand of choice. When it became unacceptable to allow smoking in facilities, staff and inmates were weaned off slowly. Once the air cleared, literally, it became unimaginable that we had ever allowed smoking in the first place.
We had periods of time where pizza, pop and/or popcorn was given to all areas that kept their areas clean during the week. This would take one officer the entire shift to complete. This is fondly remembered as our Warm and Fuzzy period. There was also coffee just before the last lockdown was called, each individual was given a cup prior to going to bed. You can only imagine how it pained officers to not have to complete this duty at a later date.
When our overcrowding became a major reality and the inmate numbers refused to stay lower than our bed space, many changes took place. None of the changes we could imagine were as drastic as the changes made by our current Sheriff. When John McCroskey ran his campaign he stated that he would make jail a place the people did not want to go to. This has been his mission and well into his second term, he has continued to keep his promise to his voting public. I will now describe the Lewis County Jail as it is today.
We have a facility that is the same size as when we opened. The main jail has not added any new rooms or extensions. The kitchen and laundry still have the same amount of equipment, but the booking area does have one more booking terminal, one identex fingerprinting machine, and one terminal for taking pictures. All of these systems have been placed into a booking area that use to only house one booking terminal and a small booking desk area. The property room has been rearranged so that it can hold property for all inmates in the facility. The room hasn’t become larger, it is just more crowded. Property belonging to individuals who will be in custody for an extended period of time is now placed in our maintenance galley. Each area of the jail has been rearranged numerous times so that we can best use the space that we have available to us.
The main facility is rated for 80 beds, however, we now have 136 beds in the facility. Even with the added beds, we are still housing close to 160 inmates on any given day. The rooms that were built to house ten inmates can now hold 30. Each of those individuals will be housed three to a room. The only exception to this added bed space is our maximum security units. They will only house one individual unless we need to use floor space for one other. If you can picture what I am saying, you will know that we have a very crowded facility. The promise that Sheriff McCroskey made to his voting public is continuing, however, some concessions have needed to be made.
One of the first concessions was that the jail would only confirm misdemeanor warrants, out of county, on DUI and Assault charges. In county we would still book each warrant arrest. This has now changed so that we are only booking felony charges, felony warrants and misdemeanor assault charges. There are always exceptions to the rule; however, justification is definitely necessary. We no longer take any DOC holds. We are looking at every avenue available to us as far as housing goes. We now have a Quonset Hut to assist us with this housing problem. This will be described a bit later.
As to our warm and fuzzy jail procedures it goes as follows: 0630 is wake up and medication call. 0700 is breakfast.0800 to 1200 is open time. 1200 is lunch. 1300 is lockdown until 1630. 1630 all inmates are allowed out for dinner until 2100. At 2100 all inmates are locked down until 0630 in the AM. This is the daily time schedule.
We have NO televisions in the main jail. The inmates are not given coffee with any meals. We purchase “Meals Ready Eat” (MRE’s) from the military so that this will supplement our food purchases, and each lunch is served cold. Sheriff McCroskey believes that jail should not be easier than what individuals put up with when they are working a job, and being a law abiding citizen. The jail is much quieter without the televisions. I am made aware of this every time that I tour a jail where televisions are still in the dayrooms.
Our officers still work with the minimum numbers of four on dayshift and three on nightshift. We do call in mandatory overtime whenever population is extremely high or when the attitude in our housing units is unstable. We now have a Separate Transport Unit and Alternative Sanctions Unit. Our Transport Unit takes care of all Inter-County Relays, Court Transports, and Medical visits. This allows for the officers assigned to the main facility to stay there. Alternative Sanctions is a unit that deals with Work Release, Home Monitoring, and Day Reporting. This unit was placed into service so that we could have other avenues for putting inmates into custody. We have also opened up a Quonset Hut. This area will house 40 inmates. These will be our Work Release Inmates and our Inmate Workers. This is a very basic area that has no running water and uses Sani-Cans for toilets. The perks to this area is that there is a television and the inmates do get to go outside on a regular basis. This is a Direct Supervision facility and uses one officer per shift. This officer will also go out on a regular basis and do field checks on the individual workers.
We have outgrown our office spaces so we now have a double wide trailer in the parking lot that is a temporary space. Needless to say this is not what we envisioned when we asked for more space. The County Commissioners have authorized the Sheriff’s Office to go before the voters and ask for money so that a new facility can be built. As an employee, I know that we have done everything possible to cut costs, make more space and keep our inmates in custody. However, as it usually happens, there comes a time when only building something bigger will help an emergency status. That is where we are at this time.
The one positive in this entire situation is the knowledge that we have hired, trained and developed some of the best officers in this state and I believe, country. I have worked in corrections for 15+ years and I have no doubt that it is due to the quality of officers in Lewis County that no large problems have developed. When you work in this type of overcrowded facility, you, as an officer can only improve on your skills. If you don’t, you won’t remain. Our officers also know that they can rely on others without question, this is a must. Each and every person is required and will work to their fullest potential.
I have been known to preach on the word “JAILER” and how we are not to use it when talking about staff in our county and city jails. We are professionals and need to be aware of the fact that it is through our behaviors and work ethics that others come to see us as professionals also. I am very proud to be connected with the field of Corrections but mostly, I am very proud of the officers and the services personnel that I work with at Lewis County.
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