THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, September 18, 1994 TAG: 9409160253
SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN PAGE: 06 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: Medium: 60 lines
The Elephant's Fork Civic League and others who opposed having the Western Tidewater Regional Jail in their Suffolk neighborhood could offer some encouragement to Chesapeake and Portsmouth residents jittery about having jails in their midst.
The Suffolk folks also were nervous, but they now call the regional jail a good neighbor. Whenever they've had problems, the administration has remedied them; that's a lot more than can be said of some neighbors.
If the opponents had their druthers, of course, the jail still wouldn't be there. But it is, and it's not nearly as obtrusive as anticipated.
For one thing, it's so far off the highway and so well-screened by trees that you wouldn't even know it's there if you didn't search it out. And once you find it, it surprises with its appearance - much more what you'd expect on a campus or in an office park than the way most of us visualize jails.
What remains to be seen is whether, as opponents projected, property values decline because home buyers resist the neighborhood of a jail.
Chesapeake is the site of a proposed transitional facility for prison inmates nearing parole, mandatory release or completion of their sentences. Portsmouth would host a regional jail serving Portsmouth, Norfolk, Newport News and Hampton.
Chesapeake residents understandably want more information for the companies involved in the private venture. The companies could head off trouble by giving it to them.
It would be smart for the companies to enlist Suffolk people who have been converted from resisters to neighbors who have kind things to say of the Western Tidewater Regional Jail.
In Portsmouth, Del. Kenneth R. Melvin has taken the unusual approach of asking the General Assembly to oppose putting the jail in Hattonsville, a poor, elderly, black neighborhood.
The General Assembly should stay out of this tussle, and Portsmouth should make its case that employment at the jail could help many of Portsmouth's unemployed poor find jobs.
Additionally, the extra space would help the city deal with horrible overcrowding at its downtown jail and enable it to keep behind bars people who should be locked up.
In the meantime, Suffolk would do well to promote its abundance of suitable sites. Jails are a growth industry that provide jobs and, through the spending of those on their payrolls, boost municipal income.
That's the goal of attracting corporate citizens, whether they incarcerate people or make computer equipment. The money's no different, providing neither type of business diminishes the city or its environment.
Suffolk offers easy interstate access, plenty of land and testimonies by people who know that a well-run jail can be a good neighbor. MEMO: Should Suffolk compete for the jails? You may call Comment Line at
any time: 446-2464.
by CNB