THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc. DATE: Friday, October 7, 1994 TAG: 9410050147 SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 03 EDITION: FINAL SOURCE: BY JANIE BRYANT, STAFF WRITER LENGTH: Long : 109 lines
Ricky Williams expected to be home for Christmas last year.
He was serving time for a drug charge and probation revocation and had been in jail about six months.
He thought he would be released on his first parole date. Others thought differently.
``They thought I wasn't ready to enter back into society,'' he said. ``They said `I didn't cooperate on probation, so they knew I wouldn't cooperate on parole.''
And out of that shock, the former inmate had to pull himself together and face another 11 months of time.
In the end, that extra time might have been something of a blessing.
By the time Williams was released he had earned a commercial driver's license and a job with the city.
During his final months in jail, he had joined 11 other inmates in a new City Inmate Work Incentive Program that placed them in city departments ranging from auto repair and waste management.
The participants didn't earn a dime, but they did earn trust and job training.
Williams knew he wanted to be a part of the program as soon as he heard about it. His work as a trustee in the jail kitchen helped.
Lt. Jack Benzie, work release coordinator, said he got nothing but ``good reports'' on Williams' work there and that after Williams stayed on him about getting into the program, he decided to give him a chance.
Williams did so well with the sanitation department that he was offered a job once he finished serving his time.
``He's a real good kid,'' Benzie said. ``He's acting like a kid at Christmas right now. This is his first time to really get out and work at a good job.''
Benzie has high hopes that he won't see Williams again as an inmate.
``This is a big break for him,'' he said. ``His future's set if he just does what he's supposed to do.''
The former inmate knows Benzie and the people he is working with have that hope and expectation of him.
``They welcomed me with open arms,'' Williams said. ``All they ask of me is to make sure nothing is going on with me outside. They've got a lot of confidence in me and they want to see me do good.''
For all of the participants, that's a lot of what makes the program successful, Benzie says.
``A lot of these guys have never had anybody say `Hey, you're doing a good job,' patting them on the back and treating them like humans. They're branded an inmate.
``Everybody we've had working there so far has commented on . . . how they were welcomed in and treated like the other employees. It didn't matter if they had those orange uniforms on or not.
``A lot of these guys that's what they need,'' he said.
These days as a paid employee, Williams works 10 hours a day, four days a week, and considers himself blessed. He's especially proud of he fact that he can provide benefits and financial support for his two toddler sons.
Assistant City Manager C.W. ``Luke'' McCoy says the program also is a boon to city departments that have been asked ``to do more with less.''
McCoy was looking for ways to do that without hiring new employees when he decided to broach the subject with Sheriff Gary Waters.
He knew the sheriff's office already had a crew of trustees that served the city by doing jobs like cleanups and paint jobs.
When he talked to Waters about expanding those types of jobs, the sheriff saw it as a chance to offer inmates some job training as well.
``They don't have jobs and they stay in jail and look at four walls until they get out,'' Waters said. ``They still don't have jobs, so it's a never ending cycle.''
The first participants last April began work in the city's auto body shop.
``It worked out well for us,'' said McCoy. ``It allowed us to speed up how many units we could paint.''
The inmates did a good job and came to the volunteer jobs with positive attitudes, he said. Regular employees seemed to feel good about the part they were playing in helping inmates learn job skills.
``They didn't feel like they were a stranger or an outcast to the program,'' McCoy said. ``I think that's what made it such a success.
``(Inmates) can't thank me enough. They can't thank the sheriff enough,'' he said. ``The program in just a short . . . period has grown to several departments.''
Only one inmate has been kicked out of the program and that was because he was caught smoking a cigarette, something banned in the jail.
``Probably the biggest obstacle that I have is cigarettes,'' Waters said, ``because you have a person doing a great job out there and we catch them with a cigarette and he's off the program - period. No second chances.
``They're still inmates,'' Waters said. ``Even though on programs, they have to abide by the rules and regulations. Lt. Benzie stops by and checks on them.''
Some inmates think it's easier just to sit in the jail and do straight time then be out and face those temptations or spend the day out working only to have to come back to the jail at night, he said.
But for those inmates determined to turn things around, it can ease the transition back into society.
Eligibility is based on the crimes the inmate is serving time for, the length of time being served and interviews with the inmates.
``To my knowledge this is the first program like this in the state,'' Waters said.
``The problem we have now with our criminal justice system is we don't have enough of this.'' ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by MARK MITCHELL
By the time Ricky Williams was released from jail, he had earned a
commercial driver's license and a job with the city.
by CNB