Friday, July 10, 2009

McHenry County Jail - how's it going?

Over the past several months I've received a number of suggestions and questions about the operations of the McHenry County Jail. Oh, wait; "Corrections Center", I mean.

I'm still laughing at a comment made to me back in the mid-1970s that I ought to go into Corrections work. "Oh, you mean the jail?" I asked. But even back then, it was politically correct to begin referring to jailers as "corrections officers." I'm glad I didn't. Would I have been like Sheriff Joe Arpaio in Maricopa County? If you don't know who he is, Google him.

Calls and mail this week have been about four jail sergeants who were "caught" falsifying jail training records a year or two ago. As I heard it, they were suspended for 30 days.

You read about it in the paper; right? Probably not. Suspensions for 30 days don't have to go to the Sheriff's Department Merit Commission, where suspension approvals would be handled in the public view. Suspensions for more than 30 days must go to the Merit Commission, but not those for 30 days or less.

One story to me was that a more senior supervisor quit, because he refused to discipline four sergeants who he felt had been ordered to do what they did. To my way of thinking, he refused to hang them out to dry, when the discipline should have been higher up.

What records were falsified? Training records for the immigration wing. You know, that money-generating unit that helps rake in $85.00/day and $10,000,000 of revenue last year.

Others have told me about rules of employment for jailers, such as they must live within 30 miles of the jail and possibly only in the State of Illinois. It was suggested that I count the number of vehicles around the jail end of the parking lot that have Wisconsin plates. It's for sure those cars don't belong to the inmates. I don't think they drive back and forth to serve their days and nights behind bars.

And the issue of sidearms? I've been asked why jailers can carry guns to and from work. Well, by law, they can't. But apparently they have been told that they can. Since when does verbal "authority" override State law. The only people who can carry guns in Illinois are current peace officers and retired peace officers. There is something called a PERC (Permanent Employee Registration Card), but budget cutbacks must have already affected the Illinois Department of Professional Regulations, because no one answered the phone, when I called Springfield today to get the details of the PERC.

An employer, even a Sheriff or head of Corrections, does not have authority to tell jail employees, who are not sworn Illinois peace officers, that they can carry weapons while commuting to and from work. They are civilians, just like you and I. I can't carry a gun when I commute to work. Can you?

If you are a jail employee who believes you can carry a gun while you are commuting, I highly recommend that you call your attorney. If you are told that you can, get that legal opinion in writing on the lawyer's stationery. Then put it in your safe deposit box. If you get arrested and charged with a felony for carrying a gun illegally, you are going to need that letter. It probably won't do you any good in court, but it'll help you when it's time to sue your lawyer and your employer while you are sitting behind bars.

A recent letter included this worrisome sentence, "Word on the street is that the jail has greater moral problems than the road deputies, and some security measures are so lax that it is only a matter of time before someone gets hurt badly."

It's hard to know what really goes on inside a jail. Training must be thorough. Staffing must be adequate. Inmate treatment must be respectful. The jailer is not the one who put the inmate in there, but he'll catch the heat because the inmate has no one else toward whom to direct it. A jail is no place for a bully, because it won't be just the bully who gets hurt.

McHenry County Jail may be fortunate if it employs no bullies. I hope this is the case. Is it?

Jail employees must be on their toes 100% of the time. What's it like to work in the McHenry County Jail?

5 comments:

Nunya said...

Please note "jailers" are included in the exemption part of the law. If you continue with the exemptions some "mall cops" are even able to carry to and from work.
This is only if they are in uniform and is understandable. If something were to happen (ie. armed robbery at the gas station), on the way home that jailer would be expected to act. I believe there is also a federal peace officer act that covers them as well. Check with NRA site. Thank You


(720 ILCS 5/24‑2) (from Ch. 38, par. 24‑2)
Sec. 24‑2. Exemptions.
(a) Subsections 24‑1(a)(3), 24‑1(a)(4), 24‑1(a)(10), and 24‑1(a)(13) and Section 24‑1.6 do not apply to or affect any of the following:
(1) Peace officers, and any person summoned by a
peace officer to assist in making arrests or preserving the peace, while actually engaged in assisting such officer.

(2) Wardens, superintendents and keepers of prisons,
penitentiaries, jails and other institutions for the detention of persons accused or convicted of an offense, while in the performance of their official duty, or while commuting between their homes and places of employment.

Franker said...

Good work Nunya! I love that the readers are still being fed lies by Gus. He makes posts without doing his research...therefore resulting in lies on his blogs. Good thing you were never a real cop gus....perjury and writing false police reports would have landed you in the pokey! Keep up the shit work!!!

Nunya said...

I'm not saying the rest of the story isn't true. Just the portion regarding firearms.

Gus said...

Nunya, thanks for your comments, especially about who can pack to and from the "office". I couldn't find a definition of "keeper" easily.

I know "Frank" wouldn't want me to assume that a "keeper" meant a jailer, but I wonder whether a "keeper" happens to be at the same level of authority and responsibility as a Warden or Superintendent; i.e., a boss, not a jailer.

Unknown said...

Boy was that hard! A whole 30 seconds searching confirms...


"Prison Keeper Job Description - Tasks to be performed

Take, receive, and check periodic inmate counts.

Maintain order, discipline, and security within assigned areas in accordance with relevant rules, regulations, policies, and laws.

Respond to emergencies such as escapes.

Maintain knowledge of, comply with, and enforce all institutional policies, rules, procedures, and regulations. "


Why let the facts get in the way of your biased "reporting" huh Gus?