Broward County Jail

Closing Advice

Interview with James

JM: Is there anything else you would want a friend or family member to know if they have a loved one going to jail?
James: Get a good private lawyer, clear your name, and get OUT of Broward (really all of Florida).

JM: Is there anything else you would recommend to a future inmate?
James: In addition, just a comment. Sherriff Navarro fed inmates much better(taste and portion) and he also supplied basic cable TV. Having those added to the peace. Hopefully all of Florida will make their jails/prisons more rehabilitative because all the facilities are just a warehouse of criminals. The system is a big revolving door. While incarcerated inmates just become better criminals by far. With criminal records it is very hard to get a white collar/high paying job, the releasees make so much more money selling crack. Look at this(to prove my point): On the PRR list of crimes that will give you 20 years per se does not list cocaine or crack dealing. You know why, because that's where the majority of the money is coming from. I'd guess that close to if not more of the money received by any part of the corrections is in some way rooted to crack. All the money that convicted dealers have at arrest is forfeited. The majority of Positive drug tested VOPs are positive for drugs. The money sent to the inmate for commissary often comes from other crack dealers, or from items sold that were obtained from crack dealing. If a prison release steals a $1500.00 Bicycle, they'll do 10 years FSP Mandatory, But a crack dealer will probably get probation. Why? So the money keeps pouring in to the system. Also, if you have money when arrested it is almost impossible to sign it out to somebody. I personally was arrested one time with $500.00. I filled out the voucher to give "all funds" to my mom. It was refused and I was told that I needed to write exact amount. When I wrote"$350.00" it was refused because it had to be the total funds. Basically when the voucher is received by personnel, the numerical amount that HAD to be written in numbers, HAD to match the full amount in the BSO computer. This is impossible because you don't know how many days will pass before your dollars written will be processed (BSO charges daily fees, charges for meds) so you'll never get it right. Technically you are able to sign out your money, but BSO makes it impossible to do.