Building a Safer Tomorrow: Creating a More Humane and Efficient Parish Jail for Everyone
The East Baton Rouge Parish Prison is a place where I spent many long nights working as a corrections officer. Shift work with a schedule of working two weeks of twelve hour days and two weeks of twelve hour nights was something I don't think I would ever come to truly enjoy. Nevertheless, I loved my work as a corrections officer and the opportunity to pursue my passion of working in the field of criminal justice. After all it's the very reason I went back to school after earning my GED to pursue not one but two degrees in criminal justice. This work for me was much more than a job, it felt like a calling from God to me which is I why I found myself there for nearly four years before I resigned to pursue my degree in criminal justice.
I recently returned for a tour of the jail with a group of faith leaders who are partners with the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council (CJCC) in Baton Rouge. It's been nearly 12 years since I seen the inside of those prison walls. Not much has changed I can tell you. It was so good to see several of my former colleagues who I worked closely with and to see they had been promoted up the ranks in some capacity. What I wasn't very pleased to see was the poorly inhumane conditions of the jail. We were warned by Warden Cathy Fontenot who became warden earlier this year, that what we would see and smell would not be good. We started the tour with introductions from some of the jail staff as well as as the chaplain who has been in the jail for many years. The warden showed us some items which are considered contraband inside the jail such as shanks and weapons that had been confiscated from the detainees. We also were made aware of the tons of documented maintenance requests and repairs needed in the facility. "The money we're spending on maintenance and repairs, could be better used for developing a new jail." said Warden Fontenot.
The jail tour is offered as apart of an ongoing study to design a new correctional facility. The Baton Rouge Metro Council approved a 90-day study by architectural firm Grace Hebert Curtis to assess the current condition of the East Baton Rouge Parish Prison and Juvenile Detention Center and create a proposal for the potential size, cost and timeline to build new facilities. The council approved the study by a unanimous vote after about 10 minutes of discussion according to The Advocate. The East Baton Rouge Parish Prison hasn’t seen any major expansions since the 1980s; previous attempts in the past 20 years to raise taxes for the prison failed due to a lack of political support. Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome has said she plans to collaborate heavily with the team on the new jail plan.
Our current parish jail has served us for many years, but it’s no longer meeting the needs of our community. Our outdated jail struggles to maintain security standards. A new facility would provide enhanced safety measures for officers, detainees, and the community alike. A modern facility can foster a more supportive environment focused on recovery and growth. A new jail would allow for incorporating educational and therapeutic programs to help reduce reoffending, preparing offenders to re-enter society as contributing members. The deputies do their best with what they have, but they deserve safe, efficient working conditions to serve our community effectively.
Over 350 Deputies are employed at the Parish Prison, including secretarial workers, guards, and administrative staff. I was once a deputy working at the jail and I will tell you, the condition of the facility wasn't any better nearly twelve years ago when I was there. I think the community tends to only think about the living conditions of the detainees and not so much as the working conditions of the staff. In conversations about what a new facility should look like, I hear a lot of pushback as it relates to the design and comfortability for those incarcerated. I don't think we're really considering the comfortability of the staff. Do we want the deputies who are working long 12 hour shifts to work in inhumane conditions for the sake of not allowing the offenders to live in decency. If you walked into the parish prison today and would say to yourself you could never work under those conditions, then why do we expect others to do it. These are folks who get up everyday and put on a uniform to make sure the jail is secure and safe and oversee an offender population of nearly fifteen hundred. They deserve better!
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Reflection Questions:
1. What would a truly humane and safe jail environment look like?
2. What does ‘safety’ mean in the context of a parish jail?
Cynthia Young
Certified Life Coach Minister