www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-curran-webaug21,0,7540174.story
chicagotribune.com
Lake County Sheriff Mark Curran's in the jailhouse now
With week in the clink, official intends to gain perspective on
how to help inmates succeed after they have left prison
By Andrew L. Wang
Chicago Tribune reporter
7:39 PM CDT, August 20, 2008
Lake County Sheriff Mark Curran walked into the county jail in Waukegan on
Wednesday wearing a gray suit and necktie, but before long he changed into the
outfit he'll wear for the next week: a navy blue inmate uniform and a pair of ill-fitting, plastic jail slippers.
"It's somewhat surreal," said Curran, who was elected to his post in 2006
after stints as a county, state and federal prosecutor.
Moments before, jail deputies—who referred to Curran as "Sir"—booked him into the jail's system.
He was fingerprinted, a nurse took his blood pressure ("139 over 88," he said. "Is that high?")
and a deputy clipped a plastic identification bracelet on his right wrist. Then came the mug shot.
Rarely has the booking of an inmate at the jail drawn as much attention—
as dozens of reporters, photographers and cameramen documented Curran's every move.
A publicity stunt?
Perhaps. Curran attributes the idea of a voluntary, seven-day foray among those
on other side of the law as a way to raise awareness of the jail's anti-recidivism efforts
and glean firsthand knowledge of how it can improve on those programs.
"I believe that I can be a better sheriff by having a better understanding of jail operations
from the perspective of an inmate," he said at a news conference. "Because the idea came
to me in a church, I believe it is divinely inspired."
Curran, a Catholic who couched his reasoning for going to jail in terms of redemption
and forgiveness and often intersperses his public comments with religious terms,
said he was attending a law-enforcement leadership conference at Willow Creek
Community Church in Barrington when "a light bulb kind of went off in my head."
The sheriff saved his fire and brimstone for the Illinois Department of Corrections,
which he blamed for allowing conditions that led gangs to gestate within the walls of its prisons.
The state prison system "has treated inmates like caged animals, only to see them released
back into their communities angrier and more bitter than they originally were," he said.
Curran said he intends to learn how to improve programs to help inmates succeed
on the outside and draw attention to initiatives in the jail that might work at state prisons.
The sheriff will spend his first three nights in one of the jail's dorm-style accommodations,
according to jail officials. While other inmates in that area sleep in beds arranged in rows
in a large room, the sheriff will have his own 6-by-8-foot cell. From there he will spend
two nights in a general population cell that is one of several arranged around a day room
where inmates play cards and watch television. Curran also will spend a night in
the maximum-security segregation unit and the jail's medical unit, he said.
During the days he will participate in a substance abuse support group and take GED,
computer and "family communication" classes, as well as work in the kitchen and
work on a road cleanup crew. He will eat with other inmates, he said,
though jail food is not his "cup of tea."
The jail houses about 650 inmates, most awaiting trial; charges range from
petty misdemeanors to sexual assault and murder. Curran said he had been
assured by jail officials that he would not be in danger.
"Him being my boss, I wouldn't even allow this if I didn't think it was reasonably safe,"
said Jennifer Witherspoon, the sheriff's department chief of corrections.
Curran said he cleared most of his schedule for the week so he can stay in jail,
though he will leave the jail for a few meetings. Undersheriff Charles Fagan will
run the department in Curran's absence.
In a holding cell near where Curran was booked, several men stared
through a layer of reinforced glass, quizzical looks on their faces as a throng of news media swarmed.
Personalizing issues to drum up media coverage is nothing new for Chicago-area public officials.
In 1981 Chicago Mayor Jane Byrne famously moved into the notorious Cabrini-Green
housing projects to highlight conditions there. More recently, 10th District Democratic
House candidate Dan Seals in May sponsored a campaign event in which customers
at a Lincolnshire gas station paid only $1.85 a gallon for 10 gallons of gas
that was selling for $4.14 a gallon; he covered the difference and worked the pump.
Kane County Sheriff Patrick Perez said he thought Curran's jail stint was "a novel idea,"
but not one he would consider because he already has "a very good understanding
of the criminal justice system."
Waukegan Police Chief Bill Biang said he won't be following Curran into the joint.
"If he thinks that will make him a better sheriff to understand
what's going on in the jail from the inside, God bless him," Biang said.
"It wouldn't be something that I would line up to do, to be perfectly honest with you."
Tribune reporter Courtney Flynn contributed to this report.
alwang@tribune.com
Copyright © 2008, Chicago Tribune
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5 comments:
I think the Sheriff will learn first hand how the jail operates on a daily basis on the county. Hopefully, he will find much admiration for what correctional officers have to put up with on a day in and day out basis. I'm sure the jail staff will be on their best behavior and hopefully the inmates alike who as the Sheriff said are "like caged animals."
Most importantly, the Sheriff will also understand why Deputies arrest such individuals whether it is for murder, assault or property offenses. I hope this is a positive experience for the Sheriff to be "tainted" in the real world of jail life.
This seems like a good idea if it was made with good intentions, there is always reason to supspect if the sheriff is doing this to better his understanding of the inmate psyche or ensure a positive footnote as the "sheriff that cares" in the next election.
Good points. Thanks for sharing them.
This is a very interesting way of hands on experience. I don’t think I would personally do what he is doing. I believe if the sheriff wants to learn about better anti- recidivism programs to improve his facility he needs to research other facility with good ideas on how to keep people from re-entering the jail, correctional, or probation systems once they get out. Once the research is complete try to implement the good ideas in the facility and if they work make them standard to the Sheriffs Department S.O.P. and training curriculum for correctional officers and civilian personnel.
If you want my personal opinion I think the Sheriff is doing this more for his mental well-being than for the better of the facility especially when the article states "Curran, a Catholic who couched his reasons for going to jail in terms of redemption”. This makes me think of what he possibly did wrong as a prosecutor that makes him feel guilty for prosecuting people that were convicted and jailed or placed on probation. Sorry to sound so negative, but he seem to be a very conservative Christian and his decision may be based on his personal guilt and the need to be forgiven.
What an interesting point. Thanks for sharing your comments
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