Visiting the County Jail

Last week the Leadership Montgomery County class enjoyed a day at the jail!  You know that could make for some interesting headlines.  Our class met first thing in the morning at the police training academy and were greeted by our Sheriff Tommy Gage.  We enjoyed breakfast followed by many speakers representing different levels of public safety.

We learned how all of the various agencies from the police force, the Sheriff's office, Department of Public Safety and the Constable's office work together to keep us all safe.  It was especially interesting learning about how these agencies worked together during and after hurricane IKE.  I am thankful for these men and women for what they all do for us on a daily basis.

The best part of the day was being able to see the squad cars up close and personal.  These babies are tricked out to the max!  They are loaded with state of the art computers and equipment.  I don't know how they are able to drive and multi task with all of those gadgets.

It was quite sobering to visit the county jail.  Learning about the process of actually putting someone in jail and then seeing the different levels of incarceration was very interesting.  I know one thing for sure and that is I do not want to ever be in jail.  Very sterile, cold and lonely.  You can see the blank stares of the prisoners and you can't help but see that at one point they were a child and wonder what went wrong to get them to this place?

The saddest part of the day was visiting the Juvenile Detention Center.  Children ages 10 - 16 come in and out of this facility for all sorts of behaviors and crimes.  As a former high school teacher, I felt especially saddened for these kids that end up here.  So many factors such as lack of discipline at home, drug use, etc. land these kids here.  It was good seeing that the facility was so clean and well run.

We finished up the day by visiting the 911 office and were able to see how this process works.  These men and women are constantly fielding calls and entering everything into very elaborate systems.  I was impressed with the calmness of these individuals as they were handling very stressful situations.  The coolest thing they had in their office was the large screen that showed where every law enforcement car was in the county.  You could actually see the icons on the screen moving all over the county.   This helps the 911 folks know where the squad cars as the calls come in. 

A great day of education, and by doing this, certainly opens up my eyes to what all these people do for us on a daily basis.  I know I could not do this type of job but am so glad that we have men and women who are passionate about what they do in public safety.  I personally thank them all!

If you have to visit the jail, this is by far the best way to go.  Go and see it and then get to leave!

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