Glimpse inside the Tazewell County Jail

How many classes exist that actually offer students a chance to shoot guns, witness drunk people submit to a sobriety test, see a trained K9 unit in action and put themselves in the position of a police officer?

“The one thing everyone wants to know the first day of class is, ‘When do we get to go to the shooting range?’” Officer James Fussner, the community resource officer at the Washington Police Department, said at our first Citizens Police Academy class Jan. 26 in the Washington Fire Department’s training room.

The first class also was, incidentally, on my birthday, and after debating for a little while whether to miss the first class in order to celebrate with my husband, he and I ultimately decided to make a “date night” out of it.

Never too keen on guns, physical combat or watching drunk people struggle to say the alphabet backward while standing on one foot, my motivation for taking the class was threefold.

First, I am picking up where the previous editor, Erin Wood, left off.

Second, I see it as a way to get to know more people in the community, including the police officers.

And third, I am curious to know more about what police officers do day-to-day on the job.

I will definitely take advantage of one of the components of the class: an optional four-hour ride-along with an officer.

The first lesson confirmed something I always suspected: I would not make the cut in the rigorous hiring process.

After several examinations, applicants must endure an oral interview, which Fussner admits can be quite “intimidating,” a background investigation and a polygraph test.

Fussner said many applicants do not pass the polygraph test.

After passing all those hurdles, the applicants undergo an intense psychological evaluation.
Barring any issues with the examination, the applicant will be interviewed by the police commission.

If finally hired, the officer is placed on a probation period of 18 months during which they can be let go for any reason at all, Fussner said.

On Feb. 2, the 22 other class members and I bused over to the county jail in Pekin where we toured the facility.

Having never been in a jail or prison, I am not sure what I expected. Although I cannot compare it to any other jail, I was, at times, surprised with how lax the environment seemed and, at other times, surprised at the rigid order of the place.

When we took the tour, the jail had 144 inmates, including one “week-ender,” someone who reports to the jail only on the weekends.

As we walked past the holding cells on the first level, we saw two men in the same cell, one on the metal “bed,” the other on the floor. Our guide informed us that one of the men was experiencing alcohol withdrawal and seemed to do better in a holding cell where he could see other people than in the medical ward.

Continuing on, we saw the machine with which digital fingerprints are taken, the laundromat and the kitchen where inmates classified as low-level work.

The eeriest part of the tour came when we stopped in front of a medium-level-security “pod.” A pod consists of several cells and a common area where inmates can watch TV, play cards and board games, or read.

One unarmed officer sits in the pod. Our guide told us the pod supervisors will chat and play games with the inmates.

As we stood outside the pod with our guide, several men lost interest in what they were doing and stared at our group.

It was impossible not to think of a zoo or have a sense of inappropriate voyeurism as we all looked through the window at the inmates “private” lives and our guide said, “They get clean clothes every day and are fed three times a day.”

When the officer in the pod took a break, the prisoners went on “lock down” in their cells. Our guide took us into the common area during this time. As we stood in the pod, two faces appeared pressed in each long and narrow window.

Each inmate is allowed 25 personal items per week. Photos, letters, magazines books and food purchased from the commissary are included in this number.

Although jails and prisons are commonplace for police officers, my first glimpse into this world was both fascinating and horrifying. It is one thing to hear or read about a sentence given to a convicted criminal. It is quite another to see close up the daily lives of these people as they live with the consequences of their actions.