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Juvenile detention officers to be honored
By JIM ROSS © St. Petersburg Times, published March 8, 2001 OCALA -- They work at a jail for youngsters. But their duties aren't exactly child's play. Juvenile detention officers must be professional and safe. Just because their charges are young doesn't mean they are easy to supervise. Today, officers who work at the juvenile jail in Ocala -- the one where some Citrus youths are held before trial -- will receive formal recognition for their efforts to better themselves and help their employer: the Department of Juvenile Justice. New employees have completed a rigorous certification process that includes classroom work, written and physical tests and in-the-field training. All future newcomers face the same regimen. Veterans, meanwhile, have taken the same tests and, where necessary, refreshed the skills they learned years ago. Through these efforts they also have earned certification. Such certification is standard for law enforcement officers and corrections officers. It's just part of the routine. But certification is relatively new for Juvenile Justice, where training sometimes varied from region to region and the process wasn't nearly so formal. That's why Larry Lumpee, the department's assistant secretary for detention, is coming to town. He's scheduled to preside at a 1 p.m. ceremony at the facility, which bears the formal name of Marion Regional Juvenile Detention Center. Officers will receive badges and words from Lumpee, who is part of the leadership team helping Juvenile Justice continue its shift away from social work and toward criminal justice. "Detention's role is to keep these kids in a secure facility and maintain control," said Roger Krieger, the former Crystal River police chief and city manager who now serves as an assistant superintendent at Marion. The facility, which holds children age 18 and younger, regularly exceeds its capacity of 68. The census Wednesday was more than 100, Krieger said. Workers are building an addition to Marion, which is just north of State Road 40 (Silver Springs Boulevard) and east of Interstate 75 in Ocala. Marion accepts youths who have been arrested and are being held for trial in Citrus, Marion, Hernando, Lake and Sumter counties. On any given day, 10 percent to 15 percent of the population is from Citrus, Krieger said. Not all juveniles are held in secure detention; officials review each boy or girl's criminal history and other factors and then decide whether they should be off the streets. Employees once were called detention care workers. The title change, to juvenile detention officer, came last year. Before that, a uniform dress code was imposed. Certification is the most recent part of the shift, which started years ago when Juvenile Justice was taken from the Department of Children and Families, then known as Health and Rehabilitative Services. People who work at Marion and its companion facilities statewide always received training. But the level and intensity varied from place to place, largely depending on the facility's need for employees. In Ocala, it wasn't unusual for a new employee to be working the floor after just three weeks of training. "It (training) is much more intensive now than it used to be," said Dixie Fosler, superintendent at Marion the past eight years. About 60 employees will receive recognition today. A few live in Citrus and commute to Ocala each day. "Our agency is maturing," Fosler said. "We're maturing more as a criminal justice agency."
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