Olmsted County commissioner candidate Jim Daley's remarks about the management of our adult detention during the forum on Oct. 12 were uninformed, simplistic and an affront to my staff.
We do not coddle inmates! We provide the basics required by state and federal law. Most of our inmates are home-grown brothers, sisters, sons and daughters. They are a tough population who tend to be strung out on dope or booze, may have mental illness, may be angry at life, and often are violent.
Even when we do our business as well as possible, we run the risk of a disturbance. It is simply the reality of our business. My staff takes great pride in striving for continuous quality improvement. They are teachers for the National Institute of Corrections, teaching the latest in jail management concepts. They have won awards for our mental illness management and suicide prevention programs.
You have a progressive community facility with an outstanding staff that works nights, weekends and holidays and faces significant risk of personal injury for only very moderate pay. Daley's remarks were wrong. He should do his homework before he publicly denigrates our facility and my staff.
Steve; Borchardt
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Olmsted; County Sheriff
