OCR Text |
Show 6A Lakeside Review, Wednesday, Feb. 2, 1983 MfJkxY k., i LT. TEBBS (above) begins to release a prisoner from maximum security. A prisoner (right) peers out from his maximum security cell. small opening in a white heavy metal door of a maxFARMINGTON Theres a imum security isolation cell loud clink as one large iron near the office. The opening is gate closes. A gate in front of it the size of a mail slot and offers opens. As you pass, theres the only window to the outanother clink as the gate side world for the inmate. shuts. Each inmate entering the Inside, there are hallways in Davis County jail is sent each direction. Raspy voices through a strip search. The buzz over a police radio in a inmate is told to enter a small small office. Two men in tan cinderblock room. In the room By RON KNOWLTON a Review Staff , police uniforms gaze through a large glass window. One man talks on a police radio while another is reading a police report. A third man is seated at a desk. This is the quiet world of where these the county jail convicted of various crimes serve terms up to one year. A set of eyes watches through is a shower and a stainless steel toilet. The toilet has no toilet seat, offering no weapon that could be used against Sheriff Department deputies and jail employees. After the search, the inmates are all dressed in jail uniforms. Just beyond the office is another set of iron gates and more clinks as each one opens. hallway south and a hallway east wind past rooms enclosed by drab black metal bars that stretch from the floor to the ceiling. The floor is cement, but not cold just hard. The smell of Pine Sol lingers in the air, since one of the jail trustees just mopped the hallway? Theres no dampness, no windows except in a small weight room. And the weight room window is the size of a small bread-bo- x and has black bars in front of it. A small camera at the end of each hallway scans back and fourth. In a small room with a locked A door, Deputy Pat Boyer watches 44 small television sets all lined in neat rows built into the wall. The TV sets monitor each hallway, the entrances to the cell blocks, and even the outside parking lot of the jail. Boyer also has a set of knobs in front of her which control the clinks as gates swing others who have committed ater offenses, gre- is also short, exp- lains Haygood. Those inmates soon leave the jail for Point of the Mountain for a longer stay in the Utah State Prison. The inmates have no physical contact with the public, explains Haygood except for the open and close. clergy and lawyers who come to One large room with bunk visit. Other visits are made in a beds holds illegal aliens,, wait- small room with seven booths ing to be shipped home. The each with a phone. The inmates room is also enclosed by metal can sit by a window and talk bars. through the phone to friends or Other rooms are different. A relatives, Haygood says. On when a majority of cellblock, surrounded by block Sunday visits made are the room the holds four small cells. The bars, black metal gates to each small becomes very busy, Haygood cell are open. Several men sit in said. a larger room on benches and Many of the inmates really absorbed by the pages look forward to Sunday, when a read Mormon bishop and a Baptist they slowly turn. Others talk. Some watch afternoon soap operas on a black and white TV set. The TV sets in the jail were donated by jail employees, explains Officer Dave Haygood, in an effort to relieve the tension generally prevalent in a jail. But in the Davis County Jail there seems little tension. Some emotionless faces stare into space. Time stands still and seems lost. To jail inmates, each day seems like the last. The jails boring place, inmates claim. Not much to do. But for those who commit minor offenses, their stay in the Davis County Jail is no longer than one year. The length of stay for minister come to visit. The prisoners use it as an excuse to get out of their cell blocks, Haygood explains. Most dont take religion seriously, he admits. But some do. The church services are held in a small room. The room is also used for a weight room and contains barbells of all sizes. The church services are not typical, though, Haygood says. The clergy talk about what the inmates are doing in jail and how they can change their lives and better themselves. The in--. mates also dont dress up for but come Sunday services tK&" " y 0: ,Y Y" Y 7-- m dressed in their jail fatigues. On other days the weight room is used for an exercise room. Some inmates put on boxing gloves and box each other. Others lift weights. The activities in the room are very controlled, Haygood claims. If I even see anyone attempting to , , lose control, Ill stop the situa-tion right there, Haygood, a husky police officer, says. One of the inmates is a weight lifter and is in charge of the weight lifting program. He also . helps to keep the situation under control. Many of the inmates know that if they lose control, they may lose the privilege of using the exercise room. Haygood said the room is the only place for inmates to release their tensions. There are 101 beds in the jail, says Lt. Stan Tebbs, the Davis County Jail Commander. The jail averages 90 inmates, and 127 is the highest I ever recall in here. That came following a drug bust. On Fridays and Saturdays the jail has the highest population Tebbs says. There are usually more inmates in the winter than in the summer, he added. In an old part of the jail is the trustee section. The area was to be used as a facility for women inmates, but law enforcement personnel decided against that. Female inmates are held in Salt Lake County. Usually there are seven trustees. Trustees are inmates who have committed minor offenses and who have gained the trust of security personnel at the jail through good behavior. Each trustee has a job. Some keep the floors clean; others do the jail wash in a laundry room. In the trustee area, the only lock is on the front door to the facility. Otherwise, the trustees are allowed to wander freely through the facility. Any freedoms at the jail are earned. The trustees have their own visiting room, similar to the visiting room used by the other inmates. Anyone can visit the trustees unless the courts have, placed restrictions against cer tain individuals. If problems arise, privilege: are yanked, Haygabd said, a: a method of maintrliing con trol. The shift officer at the jail can; yank commissary, TV or visit ing privileges. But officers are hesitant to take TV privileges says Haygood, sincathe Tv! seems to help tensions. The Davis County Jail is the only jail in the state that provides three hot meals for the inmates each day, says Haygood. Its pretty good food, depending on who the cook is. " Haygood came to Utah after working as a state trooper in "Georgia. He now specializes in corrections. I dont want to be a deputy," says Haygood. People think Im crazy, but I enjoy what Im doing. r TV" ' ' : - ' mi vy rear 7' & ; ' x M' V x' V'' v ' , '4f , , , ) SITTING in the jail control area Deputy Pat Boyer can open and close every cell door. H. DAVID HEYWOOD watches over an inmate while he works out in the small weight room. - OFFICER |