Florida - Pasco Jail Opens Unit For Military Veterans

[carlie]

Pasco jail opens unit for military veterans

LAND O'LAKES, Fla. -

The Pasco County Jail now has a housing unit dedicated to military veterans.

The unit which holds 32 inmates opened Tuesday. It will offer a range of services for veterans, including counseling, rehabilitation, job placement, life skills and outreach programs.

The idea came from Capt. Ray Revell, who heard of a similar program during a leadership training trip to FBI headquarters in Quantico, Va.

Article :

http://www.clickorlando.com/news/pasco-jail-opens-unit-for-military-veterans/-/1637132/24567066/-/ujpyj7/-/index.html

[john999]

Do you have to commit a crime to get a cell in Pasco if you are a vet? This sounds so good I might just get drunk and run over someone to get a cell all to myself. No...then the compensation stops.

[Navy04]

I think that is a great idea. Tired of PTSD vets, being jailed with Murderers and Rapists, Vets need a certain kind of help. I hope other states do this too. Thanks for the info

[71M10]

I am conflicted when I see stories like these.

As members of the US Military we were trained how to live with and follow military regulation (nothing more than a detailed set of laws) and conduct ourselves with in the established protocols and rules. Being discharged doesn't absolve us of this responsibility. Veteran status alone shouldn't be an entitlement to a kinder-gentler jail experience. If you can't do the time - don't do the crime!

However, Veterans who end up encarcerated realted to behaviour or actions related to a mental disorder/s (diagnosed or undiagnosed) should get screened by a mental health professional and if a mental disability related to their service is detected they should get immediate medical treatment in a non jail facility and the district attorney should take this in account when deciding the eventual disposition of the case. Additionally, individuals who have been in treatment and have been perscribed medications or given medically based restrictions that the individual refuses to comply with have commited a willful act and should face justice for their actions just the same as any other individual.

Real mental health screening needs to occur at discharge to help identify individuals who will have problems re-integrating with civilian society. This won't identify all people who will have problems, it may not even identify the majority(especially since PTSD doesn't necessarily manifest immediately), but our current system isnt working. Aggressive mental health screening also needs to happen at enlistment and if they find you OK enough to go to initial entry training any acquired mental disorder in service is a valid disability. NO MORE PERSONALITY DISORDER discharges.

My un-asked for nickles worth (used to be 2 cents - inflation)

Best regards,

[john999]

My father-in-law was a combat marine in WW11. His brains got scrambled from an explosion. They had no real knowledge of TBI in those days. He was never right again after the war from what my wife says. He did crazy things and got into trouble with the law. He went to prison. He should have been committed to a hospital for criminally insane. He almost killed his whole family by setting fire to their house at night when they were all asleep. He never got a break from the law, the marines or the VA. He was a danger to himself and to others after his head injury. He was a hero and a danger. What do you do with someone like that?

I agree that if there was aggressive mental health screening it would help screen out some more obvious cases. It probably would have screened me out. I got zero mental health screening at discharge even though I had spent two months in a large military mental hospital ward. I was crazy as hell and the army just kicked me out as a personality disorder. I never did anything to get myself put in jail, but I got no help from the VA. I do think vets with TBI's, PTSD and other mental disorders that are service connected should be given some way out of the criminal justice system unless their crimes are against people. I don't think some vet who commits murder should be given 6 months in a mental hospital, but I don't think a vet with mental problems should get ten years for drug use or for some crazy crime motivated by his/her mental illness.

[Navy04]

I agree with you guys above. I was an Agent with the state last year for 7 months Tracking Violent Sex Offenders. A lot of the VSOs whether Military Vets or not, had severe Mental Health Problems, yet the state of Texas is filling the Prisons up with these Mental Cases instead of getting them the help that they need. It made my job very stressful and became too hard for me to handle, and I had to resign Oct 2013. Govt only makes money if they lock up crazy people, not if they send them to a private Mental Hospital, WTH. Great info and conversation guys.

[Notorious Kelly]

There needs to be a 'halfway house' kind of place for people who are not criminals but mentally should not be fending for themselves on the street.