New Cape May Jail Gives Inmates More Freedom: Reports

The new Cape May County Correctional Facility may not look like a jail to the untrained eye. But increasing freedom and removing barriers may make the workplace safer for staff, according to OCNJ Daily.

The jail, which will open mid-January, will practice what Cape May County Sheriff Bob Nolan calls "direct supervision," he told the Press of Atlantic City.

Instead of getting locked behind doors and gates, inmates will spend time in more open areas with officers. Each officer will be assigned to an area for 90 days to familiarize with the unit, Nolan told OCNJ Daily.

“I went to training about this type of supervision. An inmate is better off and safer, and the number of officer-related injuries and assaults decrease when inmates are not in cages,” Nolan told OCNJ Daily. “The officers are there but it is more like community policing.”

Under direct supervision, officers will spend their 12-hour shifts in the five housing units, which each can hold a maximum of 64 inmates. Only maximum-security inmates will be required to stay in cells most of the day, according to OCNJ.

Cape May County's current facility has suffered overcrowding issues. The jail was built in 1976 to hold about 180 inmates. It held 340 inmates in the summer of 2009, having averaged about 220 this summer and about 200 for the last few months, Capt. Charles Magill told the Press of Atlantic City.

The new facility can hold 320 inmates, 130 more than the old facility was designed for, Magill told the Press of Atlantic City.

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