It Takes a Village

The judicial system was designed to regulate and protect the public. In some ways the prison system has been viewed as a hinderance to recently released felons. Some experts feel that certain changes could be made to make the transitioning stages easier for individuals to get back on their feet.

Donna Wheeler and Michael Shaw are experts in the criminal correction field. Wheeler has been a detective for the Los Angeles Police Department for over 30 years. She is also the coordinator for property crimes such as Grand Theft Auto and burglaries. She expressed the hardships that she sees for convicted felons once they have served their time.

“I think that these people lack support from their community,” Wheeler said when asked what she thinks is the most difficult result of being a convicted felon. “With the lack of support and resources it becomes a revolving door for some people,” she finished. Wheeler has been a detective for in Los Angeles for more than 10 tears. She has seen more cons than pro’s through the justice system for convicted felons.

“I believe that more people should educated themselves on the law and the criminal justice system because once you become a part of that system it’s hard to break away,” she stated. “I encourage people all the time about learning their rights. It’s very important. Wheeler hopes that there will be many new programs to help rehabilitated criminals to get back on their feet and back to civilization.

Michael Shaw is a correctional officer for the Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department for over 10 years. As a correctional officer he has also witnessed the difficult outcomes of the justice system and how it has caused difficulties for felons to move forward.

“The best advice I can give to someone after being released is to work as hard as possible and relocate. Get yourself out of a comfort system and start over,” said Shaw. Shaw says that the city of Charlotte has created new programs to help train and educate inmates for jobs once they have complete their sentence. “There are many trades schools designed for the inmates because the list of employers whom will hire a convicted felon is continuing to grow,” Shaw continued.

He also expressed his concern with how the lack of financial assistance and resources can cause one to have repeated behaviors. “It becomes a repeated cycle, and people are getting discouraged when the jobs are telling them no because of their back ground,” he finished.

Shaw is working in hopes to continue to encourage those released felons to better themselves by staying informed and connected with many community leaders with programs assisted to help them transition to society.