Text and Photos
By Shari Benyousky
Guest Columnist

Editor’s Note: This is the second of a two-part series on Kosciusko County Sheriff Jim Smith and the Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Office.

WARSAW — In part one of this article, Sheriff Jim Smith graciously invited me to spend half a day in the sheriff’s department reflecting upon the first 10 months of his tenure as sheriff of Kosciusko County.

Central Dispatch/911

Central Dispatch is in the basement for security reasons, so the room is dark, but it buzzes with activity. September was a “lighter month,” but even then, Central Dispatch fielded 1,787 calls for help.

Each dispatcher sits at a station with five or six monitors giving them information about everything from GPS locations to emergency medical information to lists of contact information around the county.

A dispatcher must know how to find an astounding amount of information quickly. A tall red or green light sits on each dispatch desk indicating if the dispatcher is on a call.

Deputy Doug Light PIO watched the dispatchers and told me, “Let me tell you something. They do a job I couldn’t do. They are often the first voice for the sheriff, and every one of them is remarkable.” He thought for a moment and added. “When I started working here back in 1995, everything was written on a legal pad and took more time.”

Amanda See is the director of Kosciusko County 911 Services. Currently, 18 dispatchers work four different 12-hour shifts. They get every other weekend off.

Between emergency calls, they enter warrants and stolen property information and take regular calls to the sheriff’s main number for items like car lockouts and other non-emergency needs.

They also monitor for a new 911 service — call texting. Yes, it’s now possible to text 911 and ask for assistance.

Unusual Methods Of Recuperation From Stress

I asked how dispatchers dealt with the constant mental strain of being in emergency mode. Light showed me a treadmill some use to walk on at their desks. He also showed me an interesting table in the corner.

To celebrate fall, each shift had decorated a pumpkin. The art capability astounded me. One of the dispatchers told me the designs had been done freehand.

Uniforms And Lunch

After their other meeting concluded, Smith and Chief Deputy Chris McKeand rejoined us for a quick lunch. Over burgers from The Diner, Investigations Commander Lt. Josh Spangle and Matron Michelle Hyden joined to discuss little-known costs the sheriff must pay. “Our uniform budget is huge,” Deputy PIO Light told me.

Spangle added just the belt and all the equipment on it such as taser and gun, costs at least $5k per deputy. Interestingly, the sheriff told us the brown uniforms were becoming more and more difficult to find as other places change into using more of the color black.

Smith worried about the cost of switching the entire department from one color to another at some point. Light nodded. “It’s my job to hand out things to new deputies. I try to be as careful as possible with uniforms, belts and equipment. These items cost a lot.”

Smith mentioned cost concerns frequently during the day. He had also phased out using the actual sheriff’s name on some signs and publications, returning to just “Kosciusko Sheriff” to save on printing costs. Hyde added her approval to also save on manpower required to alter personalized items when one administration replaced another.

During lunch, I noticed the sheriff shook many hands and answered many questions from various members of the public. He is generous with his time and expertise in representing the public.

Addictions And JCAP In The Jail

After lunch, we headed to visit the jail itself where Sgt. Kevin Gelbaugh is the jail commander. Our first stop was the men’s JCAP block. JCAP stands for Jail Chemical Addiction Program which is headed by Coordinator Casey Trombley.

Of the possible 280 inmates at the jail, six men have been chosen for the program. That accounts for a tiny 2.5% of the population, so competition is stiff and not everyone chosen makes it through to the end. The program is tough, focusing on introspection, counseling and life skills including job interviews and budgets.

The JCAP men clustered around as soon as the sheriff entered their block. They were nervous because JCAP graduation would happen in a couple of days, and they would each have to give a little speech to the crowd. “What should we say?” one asked Smith.

“Speak from your heart,” Smith answered immediately. “We aren’t there to judge your speech but to celebrate with you. Be proud of yourselves and of each other.” The men nodded. He added, “You’ve had to peel back a lot of layers to make this work.”

One JCAP participant added, “It’s true. There’s no faking this in here. It’s real.”

Inside The Jail

After JCAP, we entered several other jail blocks for the sheriff, his deputies, and his matron to answer questions and concerns.

The jail is like a wheel with security in an enclosure in the middle and the blocks radiating out from the center. Blocks are organized in various ways. One block contains those who have medical needs, for example. The jail is crowded and loud.

Overcrowding is a big concern of the sheriff and he is working on numerous ways to improve this while keeping the public safe.

Tablets

Smith recently implemented the use of tablets to limit the infiltration of drugs and the trafficking of any contraband into the jail block by eliminating a lot of the passing of paper between hands.

As I walked through, I saw numerous people using their tablets. All jail tablets are green but clear, so all the internal components can easily be seen. The tablets have limited internet, but do include access to thousands of reading books including a law library, and inmates receive coupons for a limited monthly number of 20-minute Zoom jail visits for relatives.

When we visited the women’s jail block, one of the inmates told us she had been in her bunk “watching TED talks” because she wanted to improve herself.

Another inmate mentioned she hadn’t been in the jail for several years, but that “there’s a lot less drama around here since we have tablets to use.” Smith himself echoed this sentiment along with many others who worked in the jail. For more inmate information, click here.

Intake/Booking

Officer Kaitlyn Clibon showed me a different part of the jail — intake. When someone comes through the sally port, they are first asked a series of questions to determine their medical status. A sally port is a small entrance to someplace fortified. Originally, the term came from troops sallying forth to battle.

Once through the sally port, the arrested person must go through a body scan, find out about their charges and bonds, and change into prison garb which includes bright orange Crocs.

If it’s a first felony, they must be swabbed for DNA, and, of course, pose for the infamous booking photo.

Kitchen And Commissary

On the way to ending the tour, we walked through the jail kitchen area. The space was spotlessly clean although I was amused to see an old orange jail Crock tucked under a picnic table to keep it stable.

I asked what everyone’s favorite lunch special was, and several people told me “The tater tot casserole.”

Both staff and inmates eat the lunches which come on industrial gray trays.

We also took a quick peek into the commissary area which is stacked with all the things you might imagine an inmate needing including fresh white socks and hygiene and comfort items. The most popular orders include Little Debbie’s and Ramen.

Inmates make orders from their tablets and the orders are packaged into green containers for delivery on Tuesdays and Fridays.

We ended the day back up in Smith’s very clean office which looks out over a parking lot. “Do you have any more questions?”

Smith looked up from his work to ask. “I hope you feel privileged. Not many people get the full tour like you did.”

Kudos to Sheriff Smith and to his people and many thanks to all of them for taking the time to share with us the inside workings of a complicated piece of our county machinery.

Know of an interesting place or person that you’d like to see featured behind the scenes someday? Send SB Communications LLC an email at [email protected].