This week’s construction launch for an $11 million support services building at Middleton Jail, in some ways, breathes life into plans that have been on drawing boards for 11 years. But come the spring of 2014, when the project is due for completion, it should be well worth the wait — and the expense.
For the new features the facility will bring to Middleton are indeed improvements that are long overdue.
First and foremost, the new facility will provide space for Essex County to house female prisoners, rather than having to send them to the state’s female correctional facility in Framingham. That’s not just an important step for prisoners and their families who face a trip to Framingham to visit when a woman has to be incarcerated. It’s also important for attorneys and law enforcement personnel, who also have to meet with a prisoner at times, as well. And it will save on both time and travel costs when Sheriff’s Department personnel have to carry defendants to and from local courts and other judicial facilities.
Secondly, the expansion will also allow for an indoor and more secure place for transferring prisoners in and out of vans at the jail. And that’s a boost for law enforcement personnel, who deserve to have a work environment as safe as possible — on what can be a very dangerous job.
It would be nice, of course, if there were no need to expand any jail facilities. But that’s just not the case — and, sadly, will probably never be. To that end, this investment might be called a necessary evil — but with the emphasis on “necessary.”
Looking for Love? Take the Prague Metro
Crews Race to Find Survivors of Okla. Twister
First Person: Baby Falcons on a New York Bridge
Oklahoma: Images of Devastation, Reunion
Reunited Dad, Son: 'We Just Praise God'
Slow Pokes: Acupuncture Helps Sick Turtles
Moore, Okla. City of Reunions, Tears After Storm
Former IRS Chief: Can't Say How List Happened
Gov. Fallin: Okla. Facing Horrific Disaster
Tim Cook Defends Apple's Tax Accounting
AP Photograher: 'It Was a Miracle' They Got Out
Raw: Crews Search for Survivors of Okla. Tornado
Raw: Tearful Reunion After Okla. Tornado
OKC Hospital Describes Treating Tornado Wounded
Obama Pledges Urgent Aid for Tornado Victims
Raw: Massive Funnel Clouds in Oklahoma
