Benton County Jail, Arkansas Numerous Deputies Verbal Abuse, Cold Temperatures, deprivation of necessities Bentonville Arkansas
As a person who works very hard and generally does not like to complain it is a little difficult for me to come to terms with the treatment of inmates at the Benton County Jail in Bentonville, Ar. I was raised to believe that you should have respect for authority, and that if you make a mistake you should expect to take responsibility for that mistake. I recently made a mistake, and ended up having to serve a few days in Benton County Jail and pay some fines. I paid my fines and set up the days for me to serve my sentence with the knowledge that I was going to jail and I should not expect comfortable conditions, hot food, or that everyone there would be understanding of what had happened and how I ended up there. Taking that into account I was appalled at the conditions and treatment of the inmates at the Benton County Jail.
The current sheriff brags about how much money he saves, but what he doesn't tell the public is that he does so by allowing inhumane treatment of his inmates. The temperature in the jail is cold enough that anyone with poor circulation such as me can expect for your toes to turn a pretty shade of purple during your stay, and as of 4/08/2014 they are no longer providing socks for inmates. Not even if you are only going to be there for one day, and they will not allow family members to purchase "whites" and have them given to the inmates either. The only way to get socks is to purchase them from the commissary at an inflated price, and if you are only there for a short period, or if you do not have the finances available then you get to have frozen feet for the duration of your stay and in the near future the new regulations will apply to bra’s, underwear, pads, and toilette paper. It makes you wonder how a female is supposed to deal with her monthly cycle if she is unable to purchase underwear from the commissary when the jail is already being paid with federal funds to be able to provide necessities.
The cold food would be bearable if it did not consist of mystery meats that I wouldn't feed to my animals, and strange concoctions that are unidentifiable in any way. After only 24 hours at a time for my particular visits I was not only starving constantly, but even when I did manage to eat the food provided it was insufficient for dietary needs and I was extremely tired and shaking due to the lack of essential vitamins. While I did not expect a 5 star meal, I did expect to at least be provided with enough nutritional value in my meals to maintain a healthy energy and blood sugar level.
The biggest complaint I have though is not the physical conditions of the jail, but of the mental abuse that continuously plagues the inmates. There are many deputies there who feel they are entitled to curse, yell, and reprimand inmates for the slightest actions including putting your arms in your sleeves because you are so cold that your skin is covered in Goosebumps and turning purple. These deputies feel that no matter what your "crime," they have the right to speak to you as if you are an animal and threaten punishment for things as simple as asking when they would have your things so you can go home. Seeing as I was supposed to be there for 24 hours and because they felt the need to punish me more, I spent nearly 3 hours after signing my release papers waiting for one of them to simply get my bag of belongings and walk me to the front door. And even though I was technically free during this time, when I asked about my belongings and leaving I was told to "Shut up, turn around, and not say another word."
Not every deputy there is completely without morals, though a good number of them are under the impression that they are better than everyone and that even if you have taken responsibility for your mistake you are no better than an animal, there are a few who take pity on those who are trying to make their restitution and show a very understanding attitude. But, the ones who feel the need to constantly berate and threaten the inmates should be put through sensitivity training or something because I am not the only person who they will come across who is not a repeat criminal, who is not a drug addict, and who was raised to believe that you should only treat others how you would like to be treated.
All in all my experience with Benton County Jail has not served to teach me any lessons about how a person should be punished for breaking the law and that it is better to take responsibility for your mistakes. It has only taught me that there are way too many power hungry, condoling, unsympathetic people in charge of our correctional facilities and something needs to be done about it. How can they expect to rehabilitate people and give them the desire to do better when they are treated like absolute animals? What kind of system is it that we treat people in such a harsh and inhumane manner for making a mistake? I'm not saying that they should be treated to 5 star meals, comfy beds, and all the perks of freedom, but if our penal system is supposed to help them learn from their mistakes they must be given the opportunity to learn instead of strictly being punished and used as a money maker for the facilities that are holding them.
4 Updates & Rebuttals
Stacey
Texas,Once again
#5Consumer Comment
Sun, November 23, 2014
You just don't get it. Jail/Prison is not the Waldorf - people are sent there for a reason. If they are proven innocent in a court of law then they have the right to sue whomever. Yet if they are found GUILTY then they are subject to the penal system. Stop with your boo hooing. It is the TAXPAYERS who are paying the BILL!!
Jees - grow up. You were arrested and jailed for a crime!!! Federal funds are also supported by tax paying citizens!!!! STOP BREAKING THE LAW!!! Want a steak? Stay out of jail. Be grateful you got food at all - many countries would give you nothing but soup and water. Talk to a Holocaust survivor and see what they had to do to survive.
And on this note - learn how to form proper paragraphs and spell.
karen
Carmichael ,California,
this is ridiculous
#5REBUTTAL Owner of company
Fri, November 21, 2014
I don't know who you people are but to treat someone that way is unacceptable.You sound like a bunch of backwoods Okies to me. This is not the 17th century it is about rehabilitation not only that not everybody in the county jail has been convicted of a crime some of them there are as pre-trial detainees and have not been convicted of anything therefore they are not there for punishment they are they being held for court whatever happened to innocent until proven guilty that is a right of every citizen in the United States of America they're being punished by being there they don't need to be punished further well incarcerated or being held for trial not yet convicted of a crime. I do not think that anybody deserves creature comforts was even suspected of a crime however they do have a right to human dignity. I don't know who you are but you are not the judge jury and executioner. We have rights as citizens of the United States and one of them is innocent until proven guilty, but does not mean immediate execution of punishment prior to being convicted of a crime sitting in a county jail leave that for the Department of Corrections hence the word corrections not the Department of abusing prisoners. This is why we have such a high recidivism rate because of the attitudes of individuals like you. If you do not rehabilitate somebody how do you ever expect someone to become a productive member of society.
Tyg
Pahrump,Nevada,
Really now..
#5General Comment
Wed, May 07, 2014
Whine a little harder why dont you. YOU were NOT ripped off. You had to spend some time in jail thats all. Were they supposed to be RESPECTFUL? Were you expecting maybe LUXURY turn down service? YOU need to get over yourself there buddy. Its NOT supposed to be a "pleasant" experience. It doesnt matter if you were "free" or not. You were STILL in custody.
Heres a few FACTS for you. You complain that you were to cold. They keep it cold because if youre trying to keep warm, you are less likely to cause trouble with other inmates. Just because there is a budget for something doesnt mean that they have to provide it to you. Every bit of the food is 100% real. No fillers ect. What YOU are complaining about is the fact that the recycle the food. Or if you prefer, they "REHEAT" the left overs. This makes for some interesting meals. Meals like Spagetti soup, corn bread and beans turns into chili with cornbread. I KNOW what happend and you can try and play the victim all you like but it wont work. It wasnt the food YOU were used to eating so you turned your nose up at it. If you didnt eat it how did you expect to keep warm?? I swear nubs like you really are born dumb. ITS JAIL DIPSTICK!!!!! God one would think you expect 5 star service, but when you compair OUR penal system to other countries, youre lucky you did not go to one of those jails.
If you ever want an education on REAL jail, watch the Discovery channel. They run a series that shows you the internal workings of different PRISONS all around the world. After watching a few of those, you will see that YOUR experience was literally a cake walk. Maybe seeing REAL suffering will open your eyes. Some harsh words and a chilly enviroment HARDLY qualifies as "Inhuman Treatment". Now maybe if they beat you some and tossed you naked into a triple door cell with a drain in the floor as your bathroom and no bed, THAT would qualify.
You are probably one of those prisoners that just has to complain or comment on EVERYTHING!! There was a way to have your "poor circulation" taken into effect. If it was a dangerous enough of a situation where your life would have been put at risk if you were in an enviroment that was too cold, then why isnt it logged into your medical record or why didnt YOU inform the nurse on duty of this situation? Probably because it was much easier for you to whine and complain then to help yourself at all. Grow up, the people in there ARE the SCUM of society. Ok you had to go to jail and experience a BIT of hardship, waaaaaa waaaaaaa. Think you will make the same "Mistake" again?? No!?!?! Then the experience was what you needed.
And its NOT about rehabilitation and NEVER has been. If you think that then YOU are part of the problem. ITS ABOUT PUNISHMENT!!!!! Plain and simple. And why should you or I have to shell out money out of OUR pockets to pay for some killer to eat better then I do. I shouldnt have to and neither should YOU. Its a business because we shouldnt have to pay to INCARCERATE those people. So they do the next best thing, besides slave labor and chain gangs, they make it a business.
Stacey
Texas,That is the reason
#5Consumer Comment
Thu, April 10, 2014
The jail is run that way so you do NOT want to come back!! I suggest you do not break the law and save yourself the "horror" of this situation in the future! As for your lack of vitamins jail is not a nutrition clinic. So just do what you stated and pay fines when they are due or make a payment plan with the County because most counties do accept them.