Lexington Police Chief Tim Edmiaston had an epiphany.
Onstage at Heartland Community College, he sat among several other panelists who’d come for an open discussion on what both sides of the criminal justice system look like.
His realization hit, he said, as he listened to some speakers discuss the stress and disconnect that incarceration had on their families.
“One of the biggest effects being a police officer has had [on my family] was they were thinking, ‘When are you coming home? Are you coming home?’ Sadly, I didn’t really realize this until today: I think we share that,” Edmiaston said. “If you’re incarcerated, I would imagine your family has some anxiety. That’s hard on all of our families.”
Edmiaston was one of more than one dozen participants on a panel Wednesday, an effort organized by the college’s Sociology of Incarceration class.
The panel gathered representatives from McLean County’s various law enforcement agencies and people who had previously been incarcerated onto the same stage for a public discussion on what both sides of the criminal justice system look like.
In some instances, the panel served to highlight the commonalities between both groups — like how Edmiaston said all of their families can struggle with anxiety of the unknown.
Both groups also acknowledged the challenges that mental health and traumatic experiences had on them, noting that on both sides of the system, things have been slow to change, though they are changing.
Toy Beasley, president of the McLean County Reentry Council, pointed to changes at the county jail to address mental health issues, but added there is still a long way to go.
“Mental health care has made some big strides in the community and inside the prison, but one of the biggest things on the inside is not enough staff, not enough volunteers,” he said. “I think when an individual goes into custody, when they get arrested and go to the county jail, reentry should start right then and there. They should immediately be assessed to see what’s going on. That [doesn’t] happen like I said [because they’re] short-staffed.”
Beasley added that in the prison system as a whole, corrections officers may not be informed about what has led to a person ending up behind bars.
“One of the biggest challenges — and I wish we had some correction officers here — is that the way they talk to you. I talked earlier about how a lot of these individuals don't understand what individuals go through before the incarceration — childhood trauma, undue trauma,” he said.
Bloomington Police Chief Jamal Simington said policing, as a whole, has acknowledged the impact of trauma on officers, and resources for them have expanded accordingly.
“Think of it this way: You’re sent to a call to help people with their problems. Whether you’re witnessing child pornography, whether you’re witnessing a dead body on a sidewalk, those events add up and there’s only so much you take, the exposure to those things, before it truly impacts your mental health and wellness and then you take it home,” he said.
“So we have, as law enforcement, as a profession, started investing more money and more resources into making sure we get it right because our folks have to be mentally sharp to be able to perform at their best every single day they show up to work.”
Panelists also agreed that rehabilitative and reentry-focused efforts need to be a greater part of the criminal justice system.
Shay Tolise, a program coordinator at the YWCA McLean County's Labyrinth Made Goods not-for-profit, thinks the criminal justice system often makes things worse for people who already are in difficult straits.
“I think the prison system, the justice system, lacks a lot of rehabilitation afterward and I would love to see reentry programs inside the prisons and jails before we get to that point,” she said. “Once we do get released, we’re all like, ‘What do we do? Where do we go?’ No one is stepping up to say, ‘Here you go.’”
Bloomington community engagement officer Kiel Nowers agreed.
"We don't really seem to put a whole lot into rehabilitation. There's a lot of focus on punishment and not very much on rehabilitation," he said. "What's lacking is hope. These people are coming out of prison, out of jail and they are stigmatized. If they don't have hope, if they don't have these support systems around them, a job that's going to make them be able to take care of themselves... then what are they going to do and fall back on?"
Simington, the last commenter of the panel, said he felt McLean County was sort of an anomaly among its peers in the state.
“I think the system is working very well. There’s always room for improvement, but if you compare this county to others throughout Illinois, especially some of our sister cities in Cook County, this is a safe place to live — and I truly think it’s because of the impact of the systems, the collaboration of the courts and probation and… prosecutors and police departments working hand-in-hand to solve issues and to be a deterrent for those that may think of engaging in criminal behavior,” he said.
