The Madison County Sheriff’s Department is following a nationwide trend in day-to-day operations with a new $50 million corrections facility:Strategic inmate management.
It’s a concept by The National Institute of Corrections which trains corrections officers across the country.
There are 10 pods that hold 48 offenders of similar classifications where they will sleep, eat, have a program room, a medical room, and a recreation area. The concept allows officers to manage smaller groups rather than large groups.
“It is safer and more practical for each unit to have living quarters in smaller spaces and easier for the smaller groups to move about than to manage a large group all at one time,” said Madison County Sheriff’s Department Sgt. Chris Gilley.
Direct management also allows officers to prevent confrontations before they start, rather than respond afterward.
“It’s a direct management situation rather than an indirect, as we have had in the old jail,” said Sgt Gilley. “Before, we have just placed inmates in their cells. I believe we’re one of the first in West Tennessee to use this model. It is more like a state prison situation.”
The purpose of the overhaul at the new Madison County Jail is to cut down on recidivism. The task now is to carve out programs that will equip inmates with skills that will keep them from coming back. Plans are to offer GED classes, prison ministry, parenting, anger management classes, financial planning and other programs to help strengthen life skills for the inmates. They will receive instructions on filling out job applications and interviewing. Classes will also address issues of addiction to drugs and alcohol..
A portion of the existing jail will be utilized. Not all inmates will be able to function in the unit setting. They will be segregated to an area of the old jail that will be refurbished for more isolated incarceration, according to Gilley.
Hundreds turned out for Thursday’s Open House to take a tour of the new facility. Kids were offered fingerprint I.D.s. There was a recruiting table for those who are interested in employment at the jail, which is hiring now for a variety of positions.
While the new jail is expected to house around 500 inmates, Madison County Sheriff Julian Wiser said the opening will start in phases in the next three to four weeks.
SCENES FROM MADISON COUNTY JAIL’S ‘OPEN HOUSE’
