Sheriff Tompkins, Department Share Five-Year Progress Report To Increase Transparency, Inform and Inspire

The Suffolk County Sheriff’s Department, led by Suffolk County Sheriff Steven W. Tompkins, has released a comprehensive report spanning the past five years of operation.

Titled A Progress Report of the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Department, the 88-page document provides an overview of the form and function of the Suffolk County House of Correction, the Suffolk County Jail, the Correction Officer Training Academy and Civil Process, with in-depth examinations of the Department’s many divisions and a statistical analysis that includes programming, admissions and release data, in addition to many other topics. 

The Department provided an advance copy of the report to a select few people, including members of the business and educational communities with a common interest in the men and women who are remanded to Department care and custody by the courts, and who also share a concern for the health, wellbeing and safety of the neighborhoods of Suffolk County and beyond.

“I appreciate the Department’s report for, among other things, providing transparency of both plan and practice for constituents, taxpayers and stakeholders,” said Dr. Keith Motley, University of Massachusetts Boston Chancellor Emeritus and Professor of the College of Management at UMass Boston. “In addition, the report gives insight into the efficacy of some of the programs and services that the Department makes available to help the men and women in custody to leave with new abilities that may not only keep them from recidivating, but allow them to embark upon a new path towards sustainable, successful futures.”  

“As a community neighbor and working partner of both Sheriff Tompkins and the Department, I am well acquainted with the important work that is being done for the citizens of Suffolk County,” said Sue Sullivan, Executive Director of the Newmarket Improvement Business District. “The care and concern that Sheriff Tompkins and the Department have for the residents, businesses and visitors to the area has been evident, whether it be in addressing the humanitarian crisis on Mass and Cass or advocating for more addiction recovery and mental health services. In addition, the work that they do behind the walls is just as essential in helping to improve public safety and health, and I’m excited about some of these efforts that are detailed in their new five-year report.”

Speaking about both the content and cause behind the report, Sheriff Tompkins reiterated his long-stated objectives to provide the general public with insight into the workings of the Department with the intention of increasing both the transparency of his office and engaging members of the community in the work of helping those in his charge to obtain the programming and services required to leave incarceration far behind them as they embark on their new path towards success for themselves and their families.

“I am both elated and eager to be able to distribute this document to the residents and taxpayers of Suffolk County, and to our elected officials, community organizations and businesses because at the core of it all is hope,” said Sheriff Tompkins. 

“At the Department, our mandate is for the safe care and custody of the men and women who are sent to us to either await their day in court or to serve out the sentence meted out to them by the legal system. But, the mission that I and the members of this organization strive to achieve each and every day is to provide the kinds of programming and services that not only inspire hope that things can and will be better for them once they return to their respective communities, but that we actually impart the practical and emotional skills needed to see the realization of that hope.”

To read A Progress Report of the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Department in full, or to read the executive summary of the report, visit: www.scsdma.org/Reports2022.