Kids and Crime: Part 4: Inside Indio Juvenile Hall

This week, News Channel 3 is going in-depth on kids and crime here in the Coachella Valley and that includes a look at what happens inside juvenile hall in Indio.

One teenager who’s been through juvenile hall told us when he arrived it felt like a dream and said, “I wasn’t able to wake up from it, it was real.”

Teenagers usually are brought into juvenile hall in handcuffs and shackles and face their first nights in detention which is very much like a traditional jail cell.

There’s a hard bed, a sink, and a toilet.

Some spend just a few nights or less depending on the case against them.

Others end up in the Youthful Offender Program and spend six months or a year.

In this teen’s case, he was happy his case remained in the juvenile justice system.

The crime he committed could have gotten him 15 years in prison in adult court.

Juvenile hall looks very much like a jail.

It has more than 100 security cameras watching every move.

There are posted pepper spray warnings, the primary weapon that staff can use to break up a fight.

In the yard, there’s razor wire in plain view.

A closer look, shows there’s also a campus feel to the main part of the facility.

Most kids end up living in 20-person dorms.

There are classrooms, a swimming pool, and a gymnasium.

Chris Wright, Indio Juvenile Hall Division director, tells us, “A lot of studies have shown ‘scared straight’ programs don’t work.”

So, the county is going a different route, focusing on treatment that includes counseling and education.

Along with securing a GED of a high school diploma, the kids get food-handling cards so they can get jobs once they leave.

Some of the kids participate in dog training.

The facility adopts dogs from local shelters, the kids train them, and then the facility adopts them out to local families.

Wright says it teaches kids about responsibility and empathy, caring for something other than themselves.

There are still harsh realities including no privacy in the restroom or showers.

The teenager we interviewed, whose identity we’re protecting because of his age, now says, “I went from an unproductive child, missing school, doing drugs, not being home, to now I’m out and have a great job.”

UFC fighter Cub Swanson grew up here in the Coachella Valley and spent time in juvenile hall before he turned his life around with mixed martial arts.

Recently, he returned to the facility and shared his story with the kids, hoping to inspire them to pursue their dreams and not crime.

The Riverside County Probation Department’s mission is, “serving the courts, protecting the community and changing lives.”

Wright says they’re more focused than ever on the last part of that statement, changing lives.

The numbers show it may be working, with the population down at Indio juvenile hall.

They have 60 to 80 kids there at any given time now, with a capacity of about 150.

Friday night at 6 p.m., News Channel 3 will continue this series of special reports with a panel discussion, getting answers on how this new approach is working.

If you have any questions you would like us to ask, e-mail us at john.white@kesq.com or karen.devine@kesq.com.