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Five Councilpersons attended a tour of the West Easton Work Release Facility on March 8th. While it took me a couple of weeks to arrange a date and time when officials from the facility and representatives from West Easton could be present, it was informative.

Councilpersons James, Mammana, Breidinger, Lake, and myself attended the tour, which began after sitting down for an informal briefing of the facility, its purpose, the types of residents, and goals of rehabilitation.

I believed the questions we had were answered truthfully and without reservation, including my query as to why the numbers of “Failure To Return” incidents have been increasing, noting the 10 reported last year.

The brief answer here is that they really don’t know why it has jumped, but did note that more than 2000 residents pass through the facility each year.

After touring the facility, I’m also at a loss of why a man would lose his residency at West Easton by escaping, or not reporting back after work.

New residents entering the facility have always been told the rules and given an orientation of what is expected of them during their stay, which can average about 5 weeks.

Residents pay a daily fee ($10, as reported in 2012) for their stay that is garnished from their wages, along with any other fees or restitution they may owe, with the exception that they can retain $20 per week if the amount were to cause the inmate not having any money of their own.

Off the living area are an indoor gym, an open-air gym, classrooms, offices and a room for residents to be treated by doctors through a teleconference from the main jail.

The general population is housed in a large open space. They have freedom of movement within the area and are pleasant enough, as I exchanged a “Hello” with many as I encountered them during the walkabout.

The sleeping area is a barracks like setting and much nicer than a few of the barracks I had to stay in during my brief shore duty stints in the Navy, with mattresses far more comfortable than the 2″ foam filled ones I slept on.

Away from the bunk beds is the lounge type of area with seating for viewing large televisions.

There are multiple shower stalls allowing for individual showering, rather than the large communal shower bays, so often seen in movies.

The men have access to clothes washers, dryers, vending machines, and pay telephones.

The two recreation areas available allow for exercising, playing basketball, or even quoits, which is popular with many. One room is heated and the other remains at an outdoor temperature, due to the requirement that 2 hours of fresh air must be afforded them. That “outdoor” room has its open windows secured with grating.

They are fed with food brought in and it is kept heated in a “chow line” serving area. If they go out to work in the morning they are provided with a bagged lunch.

The facility is clean and well organized. The guards are professional in appearance and conduct.

While I can not go into detail regarding security, because of security concerns, I can tell you that a multitude of cameras watch the facility from both the inside and outside.

After an escape of one resident from the facility itself, the door locking mechanisms were upgraded to prevent another resident from succeeding with a break-out in the same manner.

The Work Release Facility stressed they want to be good neighbors, especially to those living in the immediate area of the facility and have addressed concerns they have read about recently, or been made aware of.

A couple of my own suggestions, passed along by our Borough Manager to County Executive Lamont McClure are already being instituted.

So, now that the dust has settled a bit from the dirt I kicked up and we’ve buried all those residents I “scared to death,” I will take a wait and see position, hoping that the complaints will now decrease and things improve this year for our neighbors living near the facility.