Over 90% of Lexington’s sworn jail staff have been quizzed about their work environment at the detention center. Council committee members were briefed last week.
Well over 200 sworn staff workers at the jail participated in the questionnaires. That’s a 94% response rate. Eastern Kentucky University Justice Studies Professor James B. Wells says perceptions were measured in a way not done before. He says he and his colleagues were surprised they got the backing of the jail administrators, “I wasn’t sure they would allow us to do this study because we were measuring things that have never ever been measured before in a correctional facility.”
Wells says some of the biggest concerns came in areas of management cynicism, role conflict, and fear of reprisal. But, he says communication scored high and that can be used to address issues. ?
