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Letter: NTC staff deserves pat on the back

December 22, 2009

Dear Editor,

I was at Northpoint Training Center on day one, when we first took medium security prisoners on post. I remember my first day at Northpoint.

I was new, and I was at an institution working the graveyard shift without proper light, no fence at all and a dormitory with no locks on the door.

I also remember that we who did not live in Danville were not welcome in Danville.

When I left Northpoint in 2000, it was one of the best, if not the best, correctional institution in the state, and I don't think that any institution anywhere can claim better support from the surrounding communities like we have here in the Danville area. Northpoint routinely scores almost perfect on every inspection.

Northpoint has been fully accredited by the American Corrections Association since 1985. Northpoint has had one of the best emergency response units in the state for many years, and has had complete, continually updated, emergency plans in place from before we received our first inmate.

But the backbone of Northpoint Training Center, and the reason no inmates or staff were seriously hurt or killed during this riot, is the professional staff that works at the institution. I have known for years that the level of professionalism of the staff at Northpoint Training Center is head and shoulders above every other institution. I compliment them all.

Every staff member at Northpoint Training Center deserves our thanks and a pat on the back for the job they do every day, but we should all shake the hand and personally thank everyone you see in that dark blue uniform, or wearing the corrections patch on the shoulder of their jackets. What these men and women do is a hard thankless job that must be done. It requires a commitment to your institution, fellow staff, community and, yes, even a commitment to the inmates.

Every staff member at NTC has made that same commitment. I thank them for their service and compliment each and every one of them.

Michael Johnson
Bonnieville

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