Sgt. Tracy Cox has permission to wear her own shoes in the jail.

Everyone who works in corrections is familiar with inmates wanting medical authorization to wear their own shoes.  A typical case would go something like this:  “I have chronic back pain and walking on these hard concrete floors makes it worse.  Will you authorize me to wear my own shoes?  You did last time I was in here and it really helped.”

We need to keep in mind, however, that allowing an inmate to wear his own shoes gives that inmate secondary gain.  Shoes from home are, indeed, more comfortable than the typical jail sandals.  Also, any inmate who is granted a special privilege, like wearing his own comfy shoes, gains status among the other inmates.  When we approve inappropriate requests for “own shoes,” we are bestowing prestige upon that inmate.  And we are denying that prestige to those who we refuse.  The unfairness of this is not lost on inmates.  Finally, “own shoes” are occasionally used to smuggle contraband into the facility.  I remember one pair that had an ingenious hollow space carved out of the sole that was not easy to find on a typical security examination.  If you routinely grant requests for “own shoes,” you will inevitably get burned in this way. Continue reading →