Thanks to Sheriff Rodney Wright and his staff, the Saline County Sheriff’s Office led a group of local community leaders on a tour of the office, their new construction and also the jail on Tuesday. I got to go along on that tour and take several pictures, so I’ll give you a synopsis of what I saw and learned in the form of this photo gallery. Click any picture to enlarge it.
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- Our group from the Benton Chamber’s Civics and Government Committee met in the front office and Lt. Ron Parsons was our tour guide for the day.
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- And off we go, through the back door. See the construction? More about that below.
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- The SCSO was able to add some new patrol cars recently. Ford makes these special for law enforcement.
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- Law enforcement has changed so much, with the ability to test, report and communicate right from the front seat of the patrol car.
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- I tested out the detainee area of the patrol car. There is no getting that door back open once they shut it!
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- The trunk is filled with lots of gadgets and kits too, for whatever situation arises in with the public.
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- Construction is going on now for expansion to the rear of the SCSO. See more pictures of that here: https://www.mysaline.com/scso-expansion
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- This is the patrol room, where officers meet before their shift. It’s also used for other meetings.
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- This is one of the rooms where detainees are interrogated. When the right light is on, it means a detainee is in there, either being interrogated, or just waiting.
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- I tried this chair out too, while Lt. Parsons showed the group how someone is interviewed.
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- The narcotics room is currently pretty small, but with new expansion to the complex, there will be a much larger area for storing seized drugs and other evidence. The evidence technician currently has his office at the Saline County Courthouse, but when construction is complete, he’ll move to his new office at the SCSO.
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- Back inside the building, in what is now the back hallway, this large map of Saline County helps officers get a quick handle on where they are headed.
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- Lt. Parsons showed us an AR-15, its bullets and how it operates.
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- Detainees are photographed, fingerprinted, and they get a plastic storage bin for their belongings to be kept inside. This machine takes the fingerprints digitally. No more ink these days!
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- These chairs are used in the detention area when a detainee is out of control.
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- In the detention area, we began this section of the tour at a large, u-shaped desk where detainees are booked. The SCSO doesn’t allow photos showing detainees, and there were several in that area, so no pictures there. However, here is a stockpile of mattresses that detainees are issued.
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- Detainees are issued an orange shirt and pants if charged with a misdemeanor, or a black and white striped shirt and pants if they are charged with a felony.
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- More supplies.
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- And more supplies.
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- Detainees are issued toiletries. These are flexible plastic toothbrushes & ink pens so they couldn’t be used as a weapon. There is also shampoo, soap and the clear packets on the right is toothpaste.
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- Down the hall from the booking area, this multi-purpose room is for detainees to attend court electronically through streaming video, or they can use it to discuss their case with an attorney.
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- The master control room is where staff observes live surveillance video from dozens of cameras around the SCSO complex, including the jail, and grants or denies access through different doors.
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- Detainee present at the right side of this picture, so you can only see part of the laundry area. “Trusty” detainees, or 309s, are trusted inmates that take on certain duties. One of them is laundry.
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- The infirmary has separate small rooms for individuals that are too ill in some way to be around the other detainees
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- Several detainees were present in the kitchen area, but this is one corner. Dinner preparation had begun for the many detainees. The kitchen manager and Lt. Parsons are pictured.
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- On our way into the detention area. Most detainees have pods that are connected by two-story walls and span two floors. Guards are stationed at the top for a full view.
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- The guard station is in the middle of all the detainees. There are also two windows in the floor so the guard can see into the ceiling of two separate isolation pods.
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- Most of the pods look similar to this. Some pods don’t have doors on the sleeping areas. There are tables, bathrooms, showers, bunkbeds, phones and a computer for internet in the pods. It’s larger, but again, there were detainees present, so you are just getting a section of the room.
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- This gallery doesn’t cover everything, since there were a lot of places where I couldn’t take pictures. For more information on the SCSO, including employment as a detention guard or deputy, visit www.scsosheriff.org.
