Good Morning,

 

Here is a question that we need to ask consistently:

 

Are we buying the peace? 

 

Watching our supervisors and officers operate our cafeterias and SMU’s, I am convinced that we often buy the peace.

We can buy the peace and it will get us through the day or the shift. The problem with buying the peace is that the price always goes up. If the inmates refuses to comply today and he gets what he wants, he will continue to demand more indulgence. That is, we can feed the inmate in SMU who is out of uniform, not standing and not showing his hands. We can allow the inmate without an ID, shirt-tail out, to leave his housing unit and sit wherever he wants to sit in the cafeteria.

 

We can get through the day that way. But we have failed.

 

We have failed the public, we have failed ourselves and we have failed the inmate.

 

As we move to more uniform practices in our cafeterias and SMU’s, we will no longer buy the peace. Instead, we will begin to earn the peace.

 

As we consistently allow inmates in SMU and on the yard to voluntarily miss various evolutions via their conduct, we will pay a price in the short-term, but we will earn compliance over time. Expectations will be raised and they will be clear. In the long term, we will reap the benefit of quieter and safer SMU’s and more compliant inmates. We will feed, recreate, and shower faster while also providing more time for inmates to complete those activities.

 

In our cafeteria’s, controlled seating will allow for longer, more consistent and uniform eating time for all inmates, better clean-up between seatings, quieter cafeterias and reduced overall feed times.

 

Have a GREAT week !