“It’s a lot of money, but I guess it’s better than being in jail,” Tommy said. Photos by Scott Walker
“They don’t care about rehabilitation, they just want money,” said one Murfreesboro resident who has found himself on probation as he entered the doors of Providence Community Corrections to report to his probation officer.
Many others echo this sentiment.
“It’s just a money game,” another individual on probation said. “It makes you weak.”
Providence keeps tabs on many Rutherford County misdemeanor offenders, and charges them a handsome fee for the privilege of staying out of jail.
But many say this system unjustly targets those not as financially well off as others.
When the court sentences a person for a minor crime in Rutherford County, often, rather than serving time in jail, they will be turned over to Providence for supervision.
If someone can afford it, they can basically buy their way out.
“If you can come up with $500 you can get a diversion and go on unsupervised,” said another PCC client. This means no weekly reporting to the PCC office on West Main Street, just off of the Square, and no drug tests.
Others, who can not afford to pay their fees up-front, describe their lifestyle as “trapped in the system.”
Many must come up with a weekly $45 supervision charge, pay for a drug test when required and pay various other penalties and fees.
“It’s a lot of money, but I guess it’s better than being in jail,” one probationer, Tommy, said.
He doesn’t like the fact that he has to pay for drug tests, but he also doesn’t enjoy the idea of failing one, which would probably mean serving over two years in jail, “940” as it’s affectionately known by the people of Rutherford County.
“I don’t plan to fail,” he continued. “I don’t plan to mess anything up.”
It’s a huge time investment too, another man points out.
“You have to plan your day around this,” says Dominique, who says that he still owes Providence $5,000 before he will be a free man. “This takes a lot of time . . .
“They’re just here for the money.”
As a for-profit company, with stock available on NASDAQ, Providence cannot deny that they are concerned with bottom-line profits.
“I got two jobs. I work 70 hours a week,” Dominique continues. “I have a 7-year-old daughter, this takes money from my family . . . it drains you.”
Steven, who resides in Bedford County, says he received a traffic ticket for not having auto insurance.
“I thought I had this ticket paid off,” he said. “I found out they didn’t take the money.”
Unbeknownst to him, the state suspended his driver’s license, and the next time he was pulled over, this time in Rutherford County, he was hit with criminal charges.
“Now, I have to come up with $45 every week for 6 months,” he said. “And I have to get up here from Bedford County.”
I spoke with numerous individuals making their way through the Providence organization.
No one seemed to speak the phrase “it’s not fair.”
But the word that did come up, over and over, was “money.”
Money, money, money.
That is the message that Providence sends our community, and its clients. “Give us money, and this goes away. Earn our stockholders a healthy profit, or you go to jail.”
Many on probation are ready to admit that they made a poor choice. Most have the desire to improve their situation.
“I understand doing the time for your crime, but once you get in the system, you can’t get out,” said Stacy. “It’s a monopoly . . . I’m unemployed; I’m $400 behind.”
Many also will say that the local law enforcement may be a little aggressive in pursuing the minor offenders, the easy targets, rather that the serious criminals.
Keep in mind that many of the PCC clients, who will end up paying them thousands of dollars and spending time in their office every week for a year, were charged with simple possession of a certain herb, or for failing to renew their driver’s license.
“Some people never imagine being on probation just for ridin’ dirty,” one probationer said, warning that even first-time misdemeanor offenders can be hit with “11, 29” (11 months, 29 days on probation), for what seem to be victimless crimes; and if they violate the terms of their probation, must serve the remainder of the year in jail. “It seems like 90 percent of the cases are paraphernalia or marijuana.”
What do you think? Is there a better system? Is there a way to rehabilitate the offenders in a way that focuses on improving society more than earning this company a profit? Or does the PCC punishment fit the crimes?
bracken@boropulse.com
To be continued . . .
Great job! Keep the articles coming!
Comment September 4, 2015 @ 11:39 pm
Thanks so much, Bracken, for another of your paper’s fine investigative reports!! I’d like to know if any folks residing in this community or area have financial interests in this company.
Keep up the good work!
Comment September 5, 2015 @ 6:42 pm
so how many judges and lawyers in the Rutherford system make a profit or get money off this ?
Comment September 6, 2015 @ 8:16 am
there are judge and lawyers get kick back on this as well as the DA, they are also aggressively send people to DUI center because there are a lot of money to be made there and share a lot of lawyers own that place
Comment September 6, 2015 @ 4:07 pm
It is a common theory that “judges own Providence” – perhaps this is because civil judge Howard Wilson owns the building that PCC leases.
But Providence Services Corp. is a publicly traded company. Anyone can buy stock in it on Nasdaq.
If anyone has any evidence that judges hold stock in the company, I would love to see it. ~ Bracken
Comment September 7, 2015 @ 10:34 pm
How do i get a meeting with you Bracken Mayo? My email os prescottkristen@hotmail.com
Comment September 8, 2015 @ 6:48 pm
I agree that all they want is money. The system as a whole is favor of those that are able to throw money at the situation vs those that simply cannot.
Comment September 9, 2015 @ 2:18 pm
Thank you Bracken for printing the truths .
Comment September 24, 2015 @ 10:57 pm
PCC is absolutely about the almighty dollar! They could care less about you, as a person, or any kind of “rehabilitation”. Those that can afford it buy their freedom from PCC up front. Those that are not as well off have to suffer through a “revolving door” system. It’s designed to keep you coming back to feed the beast. The tiniest infraction, of your probation, and they can, quite literally, have their way with you for years to come.
If the probation officers are in a good mood, on a particular day, you get in and out quickly. If they are in a bad mood, they take it out on everyone. You could be in the office for hours.
The book used for their Domestic Battery course was written in 1995. It’s designed to make the offender believe that they can NEVER become a better person. I have a friend, who is a psychologist, and they told me, after reading the book, that it was completely outdated and utilized antiquated concepts that do not benefit anyone who takes the course. If you lose your course book, which you are charged an outrageous price for, PCC makes you start the course over again, from the beginning. Not just buy another book, but start the course all over again. This ensures that they can “double dip” you for all the weeks that you already paid for. That’s not cheap either! Some of the people sent through the Domestic Battery course never even committed any kind of domestic battery. It was the only place that they could send them, to drain their bank accounts, and keep them coming back for more.
The 11-29 sentence is handed out, by judges, like it’s the only sentence that there is. This ensures that the system keeps a grip on you, for the next year, in the hope that you commit another infraction, no matter how insignificant, to incarcerate you longer, extend your probation, or both. All this keeps the revolving door of justice, and PCC funded! The system is completely broken, and justice, in Rutherford County, is a farce. I know this because I’ve been through this system for a misdemeanor. I bought my way out of probation, reporting, and drug testing, as soon as it was allowed, because I could afford it. Once they received their fees, and fines, they didn’t care, one bit, about what I did! I never had to report to them again. It only assisted them in opening up another spot, to torment the next person, that was not as financially well off.
Don’t even get me started on incarceration in building “940”! What they do to inmates in that place is straight out of a 3rd world country. Yes, they are inmates, but you don’t have to treat them like sub-humans. Many of them shouldn’t even be in there, because their infractions are so insignificant.
Bottom line: it’s all about the money. We would have far less crime, and repeat offenders, in Rutherford County, if they would quit perpetuating it through their own judicial, and probation, system.
Comment September 24, 2015 @ 11:19 pm
You don’t have to go out on a limb to besmirch the probation system. I doubt you’ll find any fans of it at all. But’ it’s a necessary evil. This $45 a week is teaching a lesson. It has to help give some regularity to lives that might have been quite irregular. It helps motivate people to work, to earn that $45 and have to hand it over on a regimented schedule. And it also is a constant reminder of consequences for your actions.
The story makes this place sound awful, but i’m not convinced just yet. I’ll wait to read Part 2.
Good writing as usual, Bracken.
Comment September 25, 2015 @ 8:59 am
I am living this nightmare now. I am amazed someone got the truth out finally. Is there a way to contact you and tell my story and see what the options are?
Comment October 17, 2015 @ 10:31 am