The sheriff of Kane County has started doing podcasts featuring detainees in his jail in hopes of easing their transition back into society.
Kane County Sheriff Ron Hain says "A Sheriff and His Inmates" is a podcast designed to feature detainees who have gone through specialized programs in the jail that prepare them for life on the outside.
The training includes forklift certification and other vocational programs, and drug treatment is also offered.
The podcast furthers his department's "Humanizing the Incarcerated" program, Hain says.
"Now, when we hear people leaving our jail, we'll hear them say, 'I never realized someone in uniform actually cared about me until now,'" he said.
One of the first four podcasts featured John Fowler, a detainee who had a barbershop business in the jail. He was headed to state prison to serve a sentence for drug dealing and other charges.
"One of my biggest changes, I tell everybody, is accepting responsibility," Fowler says in the podcast. "I come across a lot of other inmates that make a lot of excuses and try to play the victim."
Fowler says he is remorseful for what he's done.
Sheriff Hain hopes to start putting out new podcasts every couple of weeks.
"They're not necessarily bad people, and they're really looking to return to the community with new hope," he says of the detainees.
The average population of the jail, during the COVID-19 pandemic, is 400. He says about 30 to 50 of detainees qualify for special programming.
"This is a key step in turning around all the negative relations that we see across the country right now with police," the sheriff said.
The podcast is co-hosted by Nathan Landrum, who runs the addiction program in the jail. He says it can be found on iTunes, Spotify and Amazon podcasts.
