Inmate Rescue

[j. d. worthington]

Here's a sort of tale you don't run into that often... and it happened in Florida, no less:

Inmates saved deputy's life during attack, sheriff's office says

I'll leave comments to those interested in posting their thoughts....

[dustinzgirl]

Inmates are necessarily all bad, there's a lot of good guys in jail who simply made stupid mistakes or got caught up with other people who were making stupid mistakes, so I'm not as surprised at this as most would be I guess. I have family members who have done hard time for various things, and none of them are really bad people.

I am very glad to see the media and the law enforcement stating this in such a positive manner. I would hope that this case would help to prove that inmates are not bad people and that they deserve greater care and attention in education and therapy than our current system provides them.

[j. d. worthington]

I hadn't intended to say anything until a few more comments were in, but...

While I have had very few actual relatives in that position, I have known people who had served time -- sometimes for pretty nasty things. With one or two exceptions, all of them I've known were basically good people who made some very bad choices in life. It sounds trite, but it's true.

On an even more personal note: I spent a day in jail some years ago myself, and without fail, the inmates there treated me with courtesy and respect for my short stay, which helped make a horrific situation a good deal more bearable.

And from the other side: I had a neighbor (oddly, from around that same time) who was a retired head of homicide of the local police department. I used to visit he and his wife a fair amount and sit and talk, and she told me (with no little pride) of how her husband, even once he left the force, continued to receive letters and cards from inmates he had helped capture. These were all very respectful and even friendly, often citing him with being a positive aid in their turning their lives around, all because while they were in his custody, he invariably treated them with respect as human beings (as far as safety in the circumstances would permit) -- often the first time they had been treated that way in their adult lives. He himself was partially paralyzed, having had three strokes, and unable to talk; but his wife showed me some of the cards and letters, as he had valued their comments and taken it as evidence that he had not only done a good, but a humane, job in a difficult profession -- something which was very important to him.

So yes, even those who have sometimes done horrendous things can (and often do) have more than a spot of good to them which comes out under the right conditions. For my part, I'd like to see society gradually change to where the focus is on genuine reformation and rehabilitation of people in this situation, not only for their sake, but for that of the society as well -- call it learning to make a wise use of available resources, if you will....

[dustinzgirl]

That is a really good story JD. Being who I am and where I come from, I often find it difficult to say anything positive about the police force, as I have met very few positive police officers in my lifetime. So I will admit that I have a certain bias in such regards. However, I am glad to hear a police officer who had such a positive and healthy impact on people's lives.

Oddly, some of the people I am directly related to often chastise me for being disrespectful to the police when they are the ones who went to federal or state prison and not me. But thats probably because I was kind of the one left to pick up the pieces after they went away, and all they had to do was hang out and lift weights a lot.

[Karn Maeshalanadae]

Originally Posted by dustinzgirl

That is a really good story JD. Being who I am and where I come from, I often find it difficult to say anything positive about the police force, as I have met very few positive police officers in my lifetime. So I will admit that I have a certain bias in such regards. However, I am glad to hear a police officer who had such a positive and healthy impact on people's lives.

Oddly, some of the people I am directly related to often chastise me for being disrespectful to the police when they are the ones who went to federal or state prison and not me. But thats probably because I was kind of the one left to pick up the pieces after they went away, and all they had to do was hang out and lift weights a lot.

I've met a few police officers in my time, DG-not because I've been in trouble, but because of trouble relatives have had-and I can tell you that most of our state's police are a very bad joke from what I've seen and heard.


This is the decent kind of story, and it's nice that something positive is finally posted within the World Affairs forum, it gets kind of depressing to see all the bad or angryfying-I know that's not a word, but bear with me on the subject-news floating around Chrons.


No, not everyone who's gone to jail or prison is bad-my mother's been in county jail, and one of my better aunts has been to federal prison-so I know that for a fact. Of course, not everyone who's gone to prison are just those who made idiotic life choices-my bad aunt and her daughter who's worse than her are both convicted FELONS, and have been to prison.


But the my initial reaction to the story, I was actually surprised-inmates not initially involved taking EITHER side, much less those of the guards. I suppose the guards had treated them decently enough to quash any rebelliousness that might've arosen within the place?

[Omphalos]

I know a lot of ex cons and I used to spent a lot of time working in jails - jails, not prisons - (and Ive even spent a little time behind the bars too, but not in the US). For the most part I always watched my butt in jail. You just cannot tell who was going to do something nasty. Most of the bad things that they do come not from fear, which is very understandable in places like that. And its not just the jailbirds. More often its probably the ex cons who do nasty stuff. I really think that there is a LOT to the idea that cons become institutionalized, and commit crimes out of a real fear of being outside - of having to deal with their messy lives.