At the last county board meeting we were treated to the plans of the
5 million jail proposed by Wold, a firm whose business is designing and supervising the construction of guess what? Jails.
These plans were developed after Wold had been commissioned to study whether we need a new jail or not, which is a lot like Hershey doing study to determine of we need to eat more chocolate. Incidentally, the Wold study is the only one fed to the board of commissioners by our county administrator, and once again he’s done some cherry picking of statistics.
For instance, the board is completely unfamiliar with the Arrowhead Regional Detention Needs Assessment of 2017, a very conservative report in which both Lake and Cook counties are cited as not needing further expansion.
According to the ARDN assessment, we’re exporting less than one person but possibly up to two people per week to other facilities, usually Lake County, a Class 3 facility, meaning it can hold detainees indefinitely. Grand Marais is considered a Class 1, or “holding” facility where we can detain people for a maximum of 72 hours before either releasing them or transporting them to another Class. Each individual can require six-plus pre-trial court appearances, so our officers must drive these offenders back and forth, as they have been doing traditionally.
Sheriff Eliasen told me that the bulk of the inmates at our holding facility are either drug/alcohol-related or spousal abuse cases. If the drug/alcohol offenders are in an acute phase, they require hospitalization for detoxing, not incarceration. Our new hospital should have at least two holding facilities for the first 24 hours of detox. I don’t think it’s the business of officers to administer drug antidotes, or potassium-laced water IVs for dehydrated alcoholics. And we are certainly not equipped to evaluate mental patients having a full-blown episode of psychosis or suicidal depression requiring the administration of tranquilizers. These are medical matters.
Years ago, when I ran a horse ranch, I came upon an ad for a device which claimed to wipe out black flies in a horse barn. It consisted of a large gallon jar with a narrow mouth and a vial of fly pheromones guaranteed to attract all the flies in the barn. And it did. As well as all the flies from the seven-county Metro Area. Horrors! I couldn’t get rid of it fast enough!
A Class 3 facility such as Wold proposes enables us to take in offenders of a much harder character: rapists, pedophiles, ICE detainees. Are we or are we not a quiet little resort town? Who has ever heard anyone boast of vacationing in Waupun, Wis.? Do we want to be cited for both beautiful Lake Superior and our impressive correctional facility?
Some argue that recidivism is reduced with the larger facility. Not so. Wold presented a jail where the families did not interact with the detainees except by Skype. And no plans for shops where detainees could learn job skills. As for alcoholics, the hospital should acquire the former Hillhaven assisted living building. It has five bedrooms up, five down, and a full living room, dining room, and kitchen as well as a private studio apartment for staff on each floor. This could operate as an in-patient or out-patient rehab center on the order of Hazelden. Anyone who needed to be restricted could wear an ankle bracelet so they couldn’t leave the premises.
As for our existing holding facility, no doubt it requires some remodeling. Like one of the Thompsons suggested at the last county board meeting, we could’ve saved a ton of money on the Hovland garage if only the locals who worked there had been asked for input and local contractors had been hired to re-wire and insulate. Grand Marais has an excellent resource in Richard Olson who can evaluate interior space, its needs and arrangements, and come up with a workable plan, plus we boast some very fine local contractors to carry out a remodel.
Perhaps what we need is a new, larger attached garage and a retooling of the existing garage to accommodate staffing space requirements.
We certainly don’t need a $5 million facility, or even a $2 million facility. These things always run over budget. Just look at the Y, and then cutbacks result in systemic failures. Hire a rookie who knows his or her job description involves driving and provide an Audible or Sirius subscription.
Grand Marais must keep an eye on the county board or pay the taxes accordingly. Your checkbook will be held accountable.
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