THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, September 19, 1994 TAG: 9409170014
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A8 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: Medium: 55 lines
The negative reaction of would-be neighbors of a minimum-security prison facility in Chesapeake and a regional jail in Portsmouth was to be expected. This could be a foretaste of what might happen around the state as Gov. Allen's proposal to abolish parole goes forward. Just about everyone, it seems, wants more jail cells - as long as they're not in their back yards.
Even if parole is abolished, there will be a need for the kind of facility being proposed for Chesapeake, which would help prisoners make the transition to freedom with counseling and education. Most people would agree that is preferable to simply turning someone loose with $25 in his pocket.
And regarding the Portsmouth jail: Don't taxpayers benefit more from multi-city jails than facilities serving just one locality? Norfolk is considering dealing with its overcrowding problem with a prison barge.
The correctional facility proposed for Chesapeake would house more than 300 inmates who are within six months of completing incarceration for non-violent crimes or who have encountered problems after release. Some would work off-site, but the Department of Corrections says all would be closely supervised.
Supervision, of course, is the key. The government owes it to residents to make such a facility as secure as possible.
The Chesapeake facility is proposed by a private company that already operates or will operate prisons in Oklahoma, Missouri and Minnesota, juvenile-detention centers in Indiana and Tennessee, and a correctional boot camp in Kansas. The Correctional Services Group, a subsidiary of Corrections Partners Inc., of Edmond, Okla., says it would erect a dormitory-style, low-rise building that would be surrounded by a fence and be largely obscured by trees.
The Western Tidewater Regional Jail in Suffolk, which also was opposed by some residents, illustrates that jails can be good neighbors. That facility looks more like a business or college building than a jail, and a spokesman for neighbors who opposed it said they might not have objected at all if they'd known what to expect.
That could be a lesson for those wanting to build in Chesapeake and Portsmouth: Don't let neighbors get all worked up for lack of information. State-of-the-art jails add jobs and municipal income. Above all else, they separate from the rest of society those who should be so separated.
If parole is abandoned by Virginia, new correctional facilities will be needed throughout the state. That will include transitional facilities like that proposed in Chesapeake as well as more conventional prisons and jails. So neighbors shouldn't despair. Jails can be good neighbors, but the state will have to hold up its end to show why. by CNB