NCJ Number
164542
Journal
American Jails Volume: 10 Issue: 4 Dated: (September-October 1996) Pages: 9,11-13,17-21
Date Published
1996
Length
9 pages
Annotation
The desire to fill an unmet need stirred the creative imagination of Gary Bowker, a successful professional who volunteered a large part of a year to mobilize the leadership of the Oglala Sioux Tribe to endorse and support a highly effective Prison Community Service Project.
Abstract
Bowker had been a law enforcement and corrections professional for 30 years. In 1995, he provided technical assistance to the Oglala Sioux Tribe for the National Institute of Corrections Jail Center regarding conditions of confinement at the Tribal Jail in Pine Ridge, S. Dakota. He developed the vision of developing a practical community service to relieve jail crowding while providing selected inmates the opportunity to regain their integrity with the community by performing meaningful community service hours in a garden project and other work. He obtained support from the tribe's public safety commission, tribal court, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and numerous community groups. The project largely achieved its objectives. One hundred twenty-three inmates performed 3,715 hours of community service, mostly at the garden site. Others donated about 1,300 hours of services. Indicators of the success of such a project included the response of the inmates, community acceptance, cooperative relationships among agencies, and awards at the county fair. Photographs