CAPAC Aug 07

Tim Copeland Speaks at August CAPAC Meeting

One of the main goals of Conservatives, Arise! is to educate and at the August meeting no one was disappointed. Major Tim Copeland, retired administrator of the Pitt County Detention Center and past President of the North Carolina Jail Administrators Association, spoke to the group about law enforcement in North Carolina, the ninety-eight detention centers that are scattered across the state, and the challenges that the administrators of those centers face every day.

He began his talk by explaining the difference between a police officer and a deputy sheriff. Police officers enforce criminal law only and are answerable to the city that hires them. Deputy Sheriffs enforce both civil and criminal law and are accountable to the elected county sheriff.

The county sheriff is the chief law enforcement officer in the county and is personally liable for actions of his deputies. The sheriff appoints deputies (“mirror images”) who possess the authority of the Office of Sheriff. County jail administrators work for a sheriff.

Major Copeland said that there are distinct differences between jails and prisons and they serve similar, but not identical, purposes. Prisons are operated by the state and are intended for persons who have been convicted of serious offenses and who are serving longer sentences. County detention centers are designed to house persons charged but not convicted of a crime to assure their appearance in court. The average inmate is held in the county jail for fourteen days and eighty-five percent are released within the first week of incarceration. Ninety-eight of the hundred counties in North Carolina have detention centers. About half of North Carolina’s jails have been modernized within the past twenty years, but many are old and in need of major renovation.

Sometimes going to jail is a “wake up” call. It isn’t unusual for inmates to want spiritual counseling and help. Pitt County Detention Center has over one hundred volunteers who visit on Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday evenings to minister to the inmates. They provide hundreds of Bibles that have been donated by local Gideon chapters and area churches. Christianity is the primary religious faith of inmates in the Pitt County Detention, but all religious faiths are accommodated.

The Pitt County Detention Center (PCDC) was opened in 1993 and has a rated capacity of 404. Its present population is around 415, not including 75 persons who participate in an electronic monitoring program. The yearly growth rate is from 4% to 5% which is an annual increase of 15 to 20 prisoners. At the present time 92% of the inmates are men, 8% female. 87% are black, 7% white and 7% Hispanic. 85% are awaiting trial while 15% are serving short sentences or waiting to be transferred to a prison facility.

PCDC is known as a “no frills” jail with no television and no exercise equipment. The facility is safe and sanitary and is like a small city. The kitchen provides from 1,200 to 1,400 meals a day. There is a commissary for the purchase of personal items and snacks. Emergency dental and medical care is provided. (The monthly cost of medication for a person with aides runs about $1,200.) Inmates participate in making decisions regarding their medical care. Inmates with money in their trust fund accounts are required to make co-payments for medical care. They have to decide whether they spend their money on Twinkies or going to the doctor. This practice has increased health care for truly needy inmates by reducing long lines of those waiting for trivial ailments. Profits from the commissary run between $6,000 and $8,000 per month and from telephone revenues are around $15,000 month. Also, PCDC is paid $2,500,000 a year by the United States government to house Federal prisoners. The monies are returned to the county general fund and are used to defray the taxpayer burden of providing jail services.

At the PCDC the walls are very thick and the floor is made of several feet of concrete. “It would take more than a plastic spoon to dig out.”

The prisoners are divided according to their behavior in jail—not necessarily based upon their offense or bond. Inmates requiring less supervision can be held in housing units that are less expensive to construct. For instance, inmates without behavior problems are held in housing units with porcelain toilets which are much less expensive that stainless steel prison-type, commode/sin units. A wooden door is much cheaper than a steel door. Also, the non-violent inmates are given more privileges and are able to live together in a dormitory situation. Single cells cost $50,000 a piece to build.