Media Inspects the Santa Rosa Jail

The Independent News recently completed an inspection of Sheriff Wendell Hall's jail facilities conducted by Lt. Paul Campbell and published their findings through reporter Duwayne Escobedo in the June 15, 2006 issue of their paper. Escobedo wrote, " For the next two hours, Campbell guides us through every facet of the 139,000-square-foot jail opened in May 1997. It's a jail he helps oversee and operate." Lt. Campbell guided the reporter through every part of the facility and covered all aspects of the problems that modern administrators have to deal with on a daily basis. Escobedo further related that "Santa Rosa County Sheriff Wendell Hall has maintained that if corrections officers err in any way, the agency will take full responsibility. It's a responsibility that Campbell says the detention division takes seriously. You'll deal with something 1,000 times the same way without any problems, then you have that one incident, he says. You don't always see something coming until it explodes. We try to be up-to-date, progressive in the way we look at things and proactive from the sheriff on down. Because of that commitment, Campbell and Major Woody Seevers, the Santa Rosa County jail's director, recently attended a 'Custody Death Symposium' along with other Florida law enforcement officials, including representatives from Escambia and Okaloosa counties. As a result, Santa Rosa County corrections deputies will soon begin getting training in how to recognize, intervene and reduce excited delirium conditions, which are often exhibited by mentally ill and alcohol and drug abusers." For a copy of the full story click here.