May 15, 2000

Help needed on both sides of prison bars
___HOUSTON--Volunteers who work in the Texas prisons and jails of the state should minister on both sides of the bars, the former president of the American Association of Sheriffs told more than 700 criminal justice ministry volunteers.
___Dan Smith, sheriff of Bell County, spoke at a prayer breakfast during the recent Restorative Justice Ministry Convention in Houston.
___If Christians ignore the needs of the officers, he said, the law enforcement personnel "walk away from the physical bars of the jail at the end of the day when they leave work, but they are imprisoned by the mental bars of their attitude, which confines them to a life of misery and unhappiness."
___The veteran sheriff said as he interviews potential officers for his department, he asks them the question: 'What do you want to accomplish in your chosen profession?'"
___He said corrections officers have "a unique and clearly challenging opportunity" to impact their communities.

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