Every week the management team tours a department or housing unit in the prison. Today I selected the prison's commissary department. It had been a hot minute since I had been there, and it was one of the only locations left that we haven't visited.
I couldn't believe how much it had changed. The amount of product on hand is mind blowing not to mention the system in place to fill, pack and ship inmate's orders to the other facilities within the ND DOCR. Quite impressive!
I asked one of the inmates to explain the process to me; you should have seen him puff up with pride. He did very well with giving details of each step and even commented that he had been instrumental in developing once of the processes for the "Family and Friends" program. I commended him and thanked him for his time. His smile made my day. (Hopefully I made his too).
The ND DOCR is extremely overcrowded; JRCC is the fullest I've ever seen it. We're in a differed admission situation right now. This means that the DOCR will not accept any inmate from any county jail until 1) we have an available bed and 2) those that we accept must meet the criteria for entrance (ie length of sentence must be 3-5 years, crime must be medium to maximum. As one can expect, this does not make the county jails happy. There isn't much anyone can do about it. Crimes are becoming more and more violent with longer sentences. Longer sentences mean more time in prison (duh!) which takes up the bed on the 'revolving bed' count (usually those serving 6 mos to 1 yr). The Parole Board doesn't seem to want to give out cuts in sentence either (not that some of them deserve it, but it would help the bed situation).
With the increased inmate count, comes increased pressure for treatment programs, increased staff, etc. My department is sure feeling it. We have three fantastic ladies who bust their behinds every day and generally with a smile and maybe a wisecrack here or there. Hey, you have to have fun at work, right?
We're busy - no ifs, ands, or buts about it. I could have stayed and worked a couple of extra hours tonight, but I didn't. It was absolutely gorgeous here ...springlike with 43 degrees!
Yes, I have Spring Fever!!
Yes, I am already thinking about getting my bike out!
Yes, I am already thinking about gardening, sitting on my patio AND wine! :)
It takes a North Dakota winter to appreciate a North Dakota Spring! :)
3 comments:
Hi Sherry!
I just finished reading your yesterday blog posting. It was quite impressive, relating to what you and your people regularly handle at your work.
I did however have to use google to figure out what a few of the abbreviated names in your posting meant.
"ND DOCR" obviously referred to "North Dakota Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation".
However I got stuck when googling "JRCC" and got these results:
"Jewish Russian Community Centre Of Ontario (JRCC)" - (Nope!)
or maybe "Joint Rescue Coordination Centre (JRCC)" - (Nope - I still don't think so!).
Anywho, it still was interesting reading.
Like where you live, yesterday and today we here also are having about the same mild temps. - (6C, here) or (43F, where you live).
Yesterday I spent about 6 hrs clearing ice flows off of and flowing down our house roof so as to guard against possible water runoff damage. Great fun but at least it was warmer working outside than in the recent past.
And like yourself, after doing all that yesterday, I too then relaxed later with a glass of red wine.
Here's hoping that, for us both, spring will come early this year.
(J)ames (R)iver (C)orrectional (C)enter - in Jamestown ND. It's a medium security prison that opened its doors in 1998 as a female prison. At that time, females occupied two floors of the building that had originally belonged to the North Dakota State Hospital (for the mentally ill). In 2000, we renovated the 4-6 floors and became a co-ed facility.
I'll do a blog post on some of the challenges THAT brought to us. Yikes. LOL
So the JRCC became a co-ed facility in 2000, eh? Yes, I can well imagine the "fun & games" and challenges that resulted for you. My condolences! 😳
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