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About Cottage Grove sentinel. (Cottage Grove, Or.) 1909-current | View Entire Issue (April 26, 2017)
6A COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL APRIL 26, 2017 ARRESTED: WHERE DO ALL THE GIRLS GO? What happens when a female is arrested in a city that has no place to house them? Captain Conrad Gagner stands in front of the two cells used to house female inmates in the Cottage Grove Jail inside city hall. n they did was a crime and they’re taking up residency in one of the By Caitlyn May t h e terrorizing our community, city’s cells. cmay@cgsentinel.com m i d d l e they’ll be released,” said Sgt. “Where the inequity comes of a nar- Doug Skaggs. into play is that the males have row hallway and down a two-ti- Cottage Grove does not rent to return to the jail every night,” er starcase in the basement of beds from Lane County and on said Cottage Grove Police Chief city hall is the Cottage Grove the matrix of crimes, shoplift- Scott Shepherd. jail. It has a booking desk, fi n- ing falls well below assault and Male inmates are also permit- gerprint station, a storage closet other, more serious crimes the ted to join work crew to satisfy for uniforms and toiletrees and county facility is overrun with. their sentence but because the cells. What it doesn't have is The combination would see a fe- city’s police force is predomi- women. At least, not usually. male arrested in Cottage Grove, nately male, there are no obsta- According to Captain Conrad transported to Lane County and cles to housing male offenders Gagner, a female may be kept released, sometimes within 24 overnight in the city’s jail. in the basement cells if she has hours. The cycle, according to “We don’t have the staffi ng court upstairs the next morning. CGPD was frustrating to say the to hold females. With a mostly It saves the local staff from driv- least. And then, Skaggs had an male staff, you could see the ing the inmate to Lane County’s idea. insurance companies being un- facility only to turn around and “I’m usually the fi rst one to easy,” Shepherd said. bring them back. But that rare- be hesitant about his ideas but Currently, when females are ly happens. The majority of the so far it’s working,” said Gag- housed in the city facility, they time, the two cells at the far end ner. are placed in two cells that are of the row, reserved for female The premise is simple: fe- around a corner and behind a inmates, are empty. males arrested and sentenced to door to keep females separated “We will send them to Lane jail will join the work crew and from male inmates. County and even though what perform manual labor in lieu of “Luckily, our dispatcher has I prior law enforcement experi- ence and so, we can have her go down and help the inmate change into the jail clothes,” Gagner said. But that isn’t al- ways the case. In some instanc- es, male offi cers have to stand around the corner and out of sight and have the female in- mate call out when she’s com- pleted the wardrobe change. “I don’t foresee us having the staffi ng to house females in the near future,” Shepherd said. Until the facility is upgraded or an increase in staffi ng is fund- ed and approved, Skaggs work crew brain child will continue to be a sentencing alternative for females who are convicted of crimes in Cottage Grove. So far, the program has had two participants. One has fi n- ished her sentence and the other is still working through her re- maining days. “We’ll have them wash cars and paint rooms but we work around their schedule, especial- ly if they have a job,” Gagner said. “What we don’t want is people thinking they can com- mitt a crime, get assigned to work crew and then not show up and complete their sentence.” While that may be a tempt- ing option for some inmates, Skaggs says it’s not an option. “We haven’t had anyone do that but if they did, they’d be picked up for contempt of court and that is a more serious crime than shoplifting. So, they would most likely be held in county,” he said. As for whether or not the work crew option creates a gap between rights of female and male inmates, Gagner says, “They’re both on work crew and they’re both satisfying their sentences.” Cedar Fencing 1x6x6 Flat top $2.25ea 1x6x6 Dog Eared $2.35ea Full 3/4” thick LANDSCAPE AND BUILDING MATERIALS Open 7 days a week! 7919 N. 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Subscribe online www.cgsentinel.com, use promo code: APR29 S entinel C ottage G rove 541-942-3325 www.cgsentinel.com l * New subscribers only through 04.28.17. Th is off er is not transferable and the off er is available those who have not subscribed in the last 31 days. Special introductory off ers are limited to no more than two special subscriptions in a twelve month period and must be paid in advance to qualify for special rate. Once the above discounted period ends, you will be billed at the regular subscription rates. April 7 – 30 Book by Rupert Holmes Music by John Kander, Lyrics by Fred Ebb Original Book and Concept by Peter Stone Additional Lyrics by John Kander and Rupert Holmes Directed by Janet Rust Sponsored by: Music Direction by Chris Holt Matthew A. Parsons Tickets available online, by phone, or at the door one hour before performance Thursday−Saturday 8:00 pm; Sunday 2:30 pm. $25 Adult, $15 Youth (age 6−18) 541-942-8001 • 700 Village Drive • Cottage Grove www.cottagetheatre.org