Sheriff Tom Knight (former FHP) says jail is waste of money

[Unregistered]

Knight is a former FHP major:

A county jail is an antiquated philosophy of corrections.

Link: https://www.heraldtribune.com/news/2...ort-after-jail

The Sarasota County Jail has been overcrowded for 10 years. There has been discussion about building a new jail to match Sarasota’s exploding population, but Sheriff Knight said:

As long as I’m sheriff, I’ll never support a [new] jail [to handle inmate overcrowding] because it’s a tool of the past.

To reduce jail overcrowding, judges need to set reasonable bonds and resolve cases quickly.

Is there an opportunity for the jail population to go over capacity again? Absolutely. However, if the jail does get overcrowded again, then mattresses can be laid on the floor for inmates to sleep on to solve jail overcrowding.

Link: https://www.heraldtribune.com/news/2...-is-not-needed

Inmates should be sent to re-entry camps – instead of arresting them and taking them to jail.

Link: https://www.heraldtribune.com/news/2...-is-not-needed

I have shifted from arresting people to rehabilitating them instead.

Link: https://www.heraldtribune.com/news/2...g-to-panelists

Before I leave office, my failure will be the jail.

Link: https://www.heraldtribune.com/news/2...g-to-panelists

Tom Knight's verbatim comments in the Herald-Tribune newspaper are solidly in-line with the Democratic Party, even though he is registered as a Republican (RINO).

[Unregistered]

How about giving arrestees surveys after arresting them? LOL

[Unregistered]

Your first mistake is even reading the Herald Tribune. Haven't read that crap in years. They are soooo anti LE. The Tampa Tribune needs to buy out this waste of a news company. DONT BELIEVE anything they print. I have seen too many times there lies but hey its a business they are in it to sell news. Hence should I say more.

[Troopgtoolbag]

I think we can all agree that we can have better systems in place. It’s good to see someone try a different approach.

[TroopGtoolbag]

I think we can all agree that our systems can be improved. I’m glad someone is taking initiative.

[Unregistered]

Here's a good education for you: READ (If you can stand it) Herald Trib for a month. It shouldn't take that long for you to see how far out commie they are. You'll probably vomit by their third article. But Knight is S20 too, so that's a good rag to find a quote from him, although I wouldn't trust anything they publish to be anywhere near accurate.

[Unregistered]

Knight is S20 too, so that's a good rag to find a quote from him, although I wouldn't trust anything they publish to be anywhere near accurate.

One thing is for certain -- the inability or unwillingness of Knight to build a new jail, to accommodate the exploding population-growth of Sarasota County -- will force the next new sheriff to work with county commissioners to build a state-of-the-art new jail within the next 10 years. It may seem like common sense to you that Sarasota County's population is exploding, so a new jail needs to be built. However, you will have to wait for the completion of the U.S. government's census bureau tabulations. That should be in the next 12 months from now?

This year, Siesta Key had the #1 rated beach in the United States (again). The entire nation is coming here. The population is booming like never before. A true strategic planner would recognize these facts. The next new sheriff will have to implement common sense to strategically plan for services that are needed NOW, as well as services that will be needed in the next 10 years (like a new jail).

Common sense is coming to the Sarasota Sheriff's Office in the next new administration.

[Unregistered]

A county jail is an antiquated philosophy of corrections.

Tom Knight's verbatim comments in the Herald-Tribune newspaper are solidly in-line with the Democratic Party, even though he is registered as a Republican (RINO).

I think we can all agree that our systems can be improved. I’m glad someone is taking initiative.

I’m glad a Democrat is finally taking the initiative to implement valuable talking points of the Democratic Party. I think we can all agree that our jails can be improved with progressive ideas from the DNC.

[Unregistered]

I disagree with Tom Knight. It’s either the U.S. constitution is antiquated or jail is simply not harsh enough to place a reasonable amount of fear in the mind of repeat offenders to avoid returning. I’m all for physical punishment for breaking the law (not juveniles) in lieu of jail time. It works in other countries. But illegal in U.S. because the constitution hasn’t been repealed and certain elements replaced or modified. Maybe one day Americans will wake up and change the constitution.

[Unregistered]

A county jail is an antiquated philosophy of corrections.

Mr. Tom Knight's statement is asinine and he is a lightening rod for controversy. Mr. Knight is the polar opposite of Sheriff Grady Judd. If a deputy or a trooper overhead Mr. Knight saying that "a county jail is an antiquated philosophy of corrections," then nobody would believe it. Thank goodness Mr. Knight's comments are bonafide documented in the media.

Tom Knight's verbatim comments in the Herald-Tribune newspaper are solidly in-line with the Democratic Party, even though he is registered as a Republican (RINO).

Democrats and public defenders are fawning over him.