Debate Over Future of Penobscot County Jail Continues
By Alex Schley
FOX 22 BANGOR - The general consensus among Penobscot County residents is that the jail is overcrowded.
Where opinions diverge is on the solution.
Most residents agree the current jail cannot continue operating as is. When it comes to a path forward, community leaders fall into two distinct camps.
One side argues building a new facility must be the top priority.
“The current jail was built in literally the 1800s. And, you know, at the end of the day, the infrastructure of the jail is run down,” said Brewer Mayor Jenn Morin.
Supporters say a modern facility would create the space needed to develop and expand diversion programs.
“There’s no rooms to initiate recovery programs so that you can have people who might want to bring in an AA or NA meeting. There’s just no resources that can even be run inside the jail,” Morin said.
The other camp agrees change is necessary but says diversion programs should come first.
“The bottom line is, if we don’t invest now in what we know works before an enormous new building is constructed, we will lose all incentives, and there is no way that officials are going to go back to the taxpayers at that point, after they have already asked for 100 or 200 million dollars and say, well, now we want,” said Doug Dunbar, a member of No Penobscot Jail Expansion.
They argue the building may need to be addressed eventually, but reducing the jail population should be the immediate priority.
“What we’re saying is, yes, let’s make it more humane because we want to take people out of the jail. And if you reduce the number of people in the jail, there is ample room for programming, ample room for counseling, ample room for all the things that people say they want,” Dunbar said.
Morin said they will use the coming months to hopefully form a clearer vision of a solution.
