Even in jail, lives can change for the better

This week as I was heading to a meeting, I heard someone calling my name. I turned to see who it was and recognized the person walking up to me as someone who has been in and out of our jail many times.

This, however, was the first time I had seen this person outside of jail and with a smile on her face. The last time I had talked to her, she was being booked into the county jail and was upset because she had once again been arrested for drug possession. She had also lost custody of her kids, and would not have a home to go back to when she got back out of jail. This was a common occurrence with this person. She would leave jail determined to get her life back on track only to be brought back in a short time later, high on drugs, depressed, feeling defeated, and wanting to give up.

This type of rotation in and out of jail is common for several of our residents in this area and it is a sad thing to see. Some express intentions of wanting to change and some give no signs they have any desire to change at all and accept this life style as "normal" for them.

As law enforcement officers we must uphold the law and that requires us to make arrests and present charges for those who are suspected of violating our laws.

As the county sheriff, I am required to confine those being charged with crimes in the county jail. We have a passion for hunting down those who commit crimes against other people, but our drive for doing so comes from wanting a peaceful community, not from wanting to lock people up.

We work with several different groups that provide a variety of services to the inmates in our jail with the hope that we will never see them come back here again.

After becoming a law enforcement officer, I quickly found that learning to make arrests and chase down criminals is not all there is to being a cop. You must learn to be much more than you ever anticipated and you find yourself doing a job that is much more different than you could have ever imagined. Among other things, our deputies have learned to become mediators, counselors, public servants, and more often than not, just a listening ear for someone to tell their problems to. I have had people call in to commend deputies for stopping to help motorists change flat tires, unlock car doors, and in one case I had an elderly lady call to tell me a deputy had stopped to help her carry her groceries from her car to her house.

Some people are not ready for help or may not want any help, but if we can change just one life for the better, it is worth doing it all again.

Maya Angelou said, "Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better."

The lady that I ran into this week told me she had not been on drugs since she got out of jail several months ago, was being trained for a job, had just signed papers to move into a home and was in the process of getting her children back.

She also said the help she got in jail was part of what helped her stay out this time. It was encouraging to see that the efforts from everyone in the community working together had made a difference in someone's life.

I would like to thank the deputies, jail staff, and each one of the groups that provide these services in the jail for their hard work and their willingness to help others.