As commander of the Brown County jail, Capt. Tony Sciscoe hoped to make a difference.
When he retires at the end of this month, will he have felt that way?
It’s tough to say.
“There’s a few, but not a lot,” he said of the inmates he thinks he impacted during his time in the jail.
[sc:text-divider text-divider-title=”Story continues below gallery” ]“They just keep coming back.”
“Hundreds and hundreds of times” is how often he sees inmates return. That’s one of the difficult parts of his job, he said.
“I just see lots of these (jails) where the jail commander didn’t have much dealings with the inmates,” he said.
“Being it’s a smaller county, I was able to be a lot more one-on-one with the inmates. I would talk to them.”
“You think that maybe something clicked, and it did for a while, but then it seems like they just eventually revert back to drugs and alcohol,” Sciscoe continued.
Still, he’s kept trying to reach them.
For more than 30 years Sciscoe has worked in the jail system as either a guard or jail commander, watching over inmates and ensuring their safety. Of those year, 18 have been spent working in the Brown County jail.
At the end of this month, Sciscoe will step down as jail commander and jailer Kenneth Moore will take his place. Moore, 26, has been training since late last year to take over the job.
Sciscoe grew up in Morgan County and trained in the Morgan County jail. While at the training, he met a couple of Brown County officers who let him know of an opening here. He applied and got the job. The rest is history.
He moved to Brown County 15 years ago after being named jail commander.
Prior to working at the Morgan County jail, Sciscoe spent 12 years with the Department of Corrections as a guard in the former Indiana Boys School that housed juveniles.
“That was rough. Juveniles don’t think of the consequences. They just react on a whim,” he said.
“It was just constant chaos.”
He went into this line of work after finishing service with the United States Army in 1986. He had entered the Army after graduating high school in 1983. Later, he enlisted with the National Guard in 1997 and served a tour in Iraq before being medically discharged in 2004.
“I just got out of the military and was driving by the boys school. They had a sign that said ‘Hiring.’ I stopped in and that’s where it started.”
‘Not all about pay’
Sciscoe decided to officially retire on Dec. 3.
Was it a tough decision?
Sciscoe looks up at Moore, who is standing in his office doorway, and the two share a laugh.
The short answer: No.
“I’m just burnt out, just completely burnt out. It’s the let-downs of inmates, a lot less respect for law enforcement from the public and the inmates. Grownups nowadays have a lot less respect for us. It’s just dealing with negativity all the time,” he said.
The jail never has enough staff, he said. It could use two additional jailers now.
“Even though it’s a small county, you still have the same demands, and the state keeps putting more demands on us. More than ever, we need those two staff,” Sciscoe said.
Keeping jobs filled is a “constant battle” due to lower pay compared to surrounding counties, he said. “For the county, we make alright pay. We’re paid far less than the counties surrounding us,” Sciscoe said.
“It’s not all about pay for me, because if it was, I wouldn’t be here. But the position of jail commander — I’m saying this even though I’m leaving — needs a substantial increase of pay for what they do. Bigger facilities, they have several staff under them. Here, you’ve got yourself and a sergeant.”
But with challenges come rewards, too. Getting through to some inmates and seeing them turn their lives around is a big one for Sciscoe.
“There was one (inmate) that was in and out quite a bit. He had some real serious charges and did some pretty good time with us. I had him out as an inmate worker. He was in my office a lot, just talking,” he remembers.
“He has been clean and out of trouble for five years now.”
That former inmate comes in on Sundays to preach to inmates now.
“There’s been a few successes like that, but they are few and far between,” he said.
His last working day at the law enforcement center will be Feb. 28.
When asked what piece of advice he’d like to give Moore, Sciscoe takes a deep breath and a moment to think.
“Don’t sweat the little stuff. Worry about things you can change,” he said. “Pick your battles.”
The next generation
Moore has been a jailer in Brown County for three years. He has been training under Sciscoe as acting jail commander for almost two months.
“I have a lot of confidence in Kenny and believe in him and his ability to do the job,” Sheriff Scott Southerland said.
Sciscoe said that Moore stood out when looking for his replacement because of his work, and the fact that Moore was wanting more responsibility.
He hopes Moore will continue to try and get through to every inmate there. “That’s a big part of it,” he said.
When inmates are in the jail, they have to be treated the same, even if they are convicted of serious crimes like murder.
“You have to treat them the same, but you have to be more on guard with them. (If) they think they have nothing to lose, they will do what they can to get out and get away,” he said.
Sciscoe said his replacement will do a “fine job” as jail commander.
“He’s extremely smart and passionate about his work. He seems to get along with all of the staff very well and I think the inmates like him as well. I think he’ll do a good job,” he said.
Moore grew up around the Brown County Sheriff’s Department. His father, Mike, is a captain now.
Moore said he learned to be calm, especially when dealing with inmates, from watching his dad. He also has learned how to talk with inmates after observing Sciscoe with them.
“I think I’ve had very positive role models in my life,” he said.
Moore and his father now have the same rank, but his dad makes a distinction whenever it’s brought up. “He tells everybody he’s a merit captain and I’m an appointed captain,” Moore said with a smile.
The younger Moore began working at the jail the summer before his last semester at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, where he earned his bachelor’s degree in criminal justice. Before he came to the sheriff’s department, he was working full-time for the Department of Natural Resources as a security guard at Brown County State Park.
But Moore did not always want to work in law enforcement. He was initially going for his bachelor’s degree in secondary education at IU in Bloomington, but decided against that after taking an education class that taught future teachers how to incorporate more technology into their lessons. “The class didn’t sit well with me, so I realized that’s not what I wanted to do,” he said.
Eventually, Moore said he would like to teach law enforcement. He enjoys connecting with inmates and trying to make a difference in their lives while they are behind bars, especially those suffering from addiction.
“Trying to get through to people that there is a life outside of that is what I think keeps me going and trying to make a difference. It’s hard in today’s day and age,” he said.
Moore said he plans to evolve the programs currently at the jail and implement some possible new programming, “just continuing the work that Tony has done and continue to learn from him until he’s gone, learning what has worked and what doesn’t work.”
“Our ultimate goal, at the end of the day, is the safety and the security of the inmates in our facility,” he said.
Leaving it behind
When Sciscoe retires, the thing he’ll miss the most is the camaraderie with everyone in the law enforcement center and the friends he’s made over the years in the courthouse and prosecutor’s office.
Saying goodbye to Sciscoe won’t be easy. “I’m afraid I won’t know everything we’re losing until he is gone,” Southerland said.
“Tony always gives me good advice, and I trusted him with everything jail-related.”
Sciscoe plans to spend more time doing things that bring him peace, like scuba diving. He’s also a diving instructor.
Moore’s goal is to have an easy transition as possible — as opposed to when Sciscoe first took over as jail commander years ago without much guidance, and on his first day, the state jail inspector showed up.
“Luckily, we already had our state jail inspection for the year,” Moore said.
“I have his (Sciscoe’s) number, and if anything comes up that I have a question on, asking him and being able to have that connection, that work relationship inside and outside of the jail is going to go a long way in the end,” he said.
“Call me anytime,” Sciscoe says from his seat nearby.
