About the Greene Co. Detention Center
The Greene County Detention Center (Paragould, Arkansas) is a 440-bed jail that maintains an average daily population of 350 inmates, in addition to roughly 140 U.S. Marshal Service federal inmates, 70 state-sentenced inmates, 12 ACT 309 inmates and 10 trustees. The Greene Co. Sheriff’s Office operates the full-service detention facility.
The Challenge
Despite a decade of investment in GUARDIAN RFID, Greene Co. Jail was only operating at 40% rounds compliance.
Jail Administrator Jacob White began as a correctional officer in June 2013. Admittedly, he had no idea what he was doing when he started at the age of 20. But over the next eight years, he earned a series of jail promotions while also attending nearby Arkansas State University as a part-time student. White graduated with a bachelor’s degree in finance and banking in 2021 – and promptly resigned from the jail a month later due to the toxicity of the jail’s current environment.
White went to work for Regions Bank and was then quickly recruited by a regional corporation working in credit management. Despite working in a new profession that White was academically and professionally prepared for, he was miserable.
“I thought I had corrections out of my blood, but it took me back in.”
Then, in October 2022, the newly elected sheriff, Brad Snyder, asked White about returning to the detention center as its second in command, with the plan to then become the facility’s administrator after their current captain’s scheduled retirement. He accepted.
Upon his return to the jail, White was tasked by Sheriff Snyder to assess and devise a turnaround plan for the jail’s lackluster performance. The detention center’s rounds compliance was in the 40th percentile range in March 2023. It was time for a major reset.
How GUARDIAN RFID Helps
Start small, then align, motivate, and measure.
The use of GUARDIAN RFID at Greene Co. Detention Center waxed and waned since its initial deployment on August 8, 2014. It was never used to its full potential or scope.
However, White’s vision for an organizational reset involved doubling down on their use of GUARDIAN RFID. White first shared the initial steps of his plan with his Captain and Shift Sergeants: to increase and sustain their compliance rate each month across all four shifts: A Days, A Nights, B Days, and B Nights.
This included a recommitment by front line staff and supervisors to more faithfully use the “core six” modules of Mobile Command: Supply, Out of Cell, Meals, Headcount, Observation Check, and Security Check modules.
“These features are customizable to fit our specific needs for our facility, as well as talk-to-text and its note functions.”
He also incentivized staff by awarding two $100 gift cards each month for the remainder of the year, which were donated by inmate service providers. One gift card went to the “Compliance Champs” and the other went to the Officer of the Month. (“Arkansas Rules on Ethics only allow gifts presented to public servants based off their performance, up to $100,” explained White.)
Additionally, Sheriff Snyder personally has a wide reach on social media, so posting a group picture of the Compliance Champs with a commendation from the Sheriff would further add motivation to detention staff.
With a recommitment to using GUARDIAN RFID, fully aligned leadership, and staff incentivization in place, early gains were profound. In the first 11 days of April 2023, compliance rose from 41% to 64.1%. In 45 days, the jail’s rounds compliance had doubled, growing from 41% to 83.69%.
Compliance continued to improve throughout the rest of 2023:
- June 2023 92.42%
- July 2023 91%
- Aug. 2023 95.33%
- Sept. 2023 96.49%
- Oct. 2023 97.85%
- Nov. 2023 97.06%
- Dec. 2023 96.15%
White also broke down compliance across all four shifts with bi-monthly reporting, as well as by section of the facility: North, Central, South, Booking, and Work-Status. His reporting did not come off as a challenge to staff, according to White. Instead, staff viewed every report in the spirit in which it was intended: transparent motivation. This included reports on Meals, Supply, Out of Cell, and Compliance Monitor. Compliance Monitor ran on multiple computers 24/7/365 and was closely monitored by the shift supervisor and staff from the control pods and booking desk.
The facility’s Compliance Monitoring schedule that was built in GUARDIAN RFID was customized to meet the requirements of Arkansas Criminal Detention Facility Standards. Two individual cells in their booking area were set up with 15-minute intervals for inmates that have verbally or physically provided reasonable belief that the inmate has suicidal/homicidal ideations.
Greene Co. also set up special-status inmates (case-by-case) on time increments ranging between 15- to 60-minute intervals. The general population is set up on an hourly schedule, and the inmates in administrative or disciplinary segregation are set up to not allow security checks, but instead require face-to-face observation checks.
Three Essentials to Early Success
According to White, there are three essentials to his team’s early success:
- 1. Alignment Sheriff Snyder, his Jail Administrator, and his Shift Sergeants must be fully aligned and supportive of the mission, vision, and their execution, or you cannot consistently succeed. “Our Sheriff may not know how to generate compliance rates, but he regularly commends staff when updates go out to the staff, or when he receives praise from state agencies.”
- 2. Know the Details Lt. White recommends every administrator to know the nitty-gritty. “Jail administrators and supervisors need to learn the ins and outs of how to track, monitor, and conduct their own checks in order to show staff that they know and can relate to what goes on every day.”
- 3. Be a Leader, Not a Boss Constant communication and recognizing outstanding performance build motivation and momentum. Holding staff accountable for failing to meet standards reduces organizational drag.
Establish and uphold high standards when hiring new staff. “You can’t lose by always improving your hiring process,” said Lt. White. This includes Lt. White holding himself and his Shift Sergeants accountable to:
“Learn about your officers like you expect them to learn about their inmates. At any point in time, 10% of your staff is in crisis mode. This can be marital troubles, self-confidence issues, or struggling to manage their personal lives. Be a mentor and a guide for younger staff and empower them with the tools and knowledge they need to be successful professionally and personally.”
Other Lessons Learned
Reinvest jail revenue into people, products, and processes.
Greene Co. Detention Center has a commissary cart that rolls around twice a week with a fixed order generated once a week. This is overseen by a commissary company’s employee, which is on-site. Commissary includes nicotine products that generate anywhere between $25,000 to $30,000 each month that’s reinvested into the sheriff’s communication fund. (This goes together with your sheriff being part of your journey in detention.) In one year, nicotine revenue pays for three transportation units, as well as outfitting the entire staff with equipment mentioned, uniforms, and proper training.
Know your hiring demographic.
With having an average officer age of 27 years old, know that praise is important. Communication occurs twice a week in the beginning with a well-thought-out inter-department email to all staff, giving recognition where deserved and having individual conversations with the shift leaders that weren’t matching the progress.
Greene County’s staff have continued to maintain rounds compliance of 97% throughout 2024.
For Greene County Detention Center, going from one of the lowest performing jails to the highest performing jail in Arkansas is a derivative of teamwork, from top to bottom of the ranks, but it must start at the top. Strong leadership that is clear, fair, and fully aligned is a crucial ingredient for the type of success that Greene Co. has achieved. Combining this with the measures, analytics, and processes that are configurable within GUARDIAN RFID helps drive breakthrough results.
GUARDIAN RFID is a member of the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Partner Network (APN) and the AWS Public Sector Partner (PSP) Program.
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