Second Albany ‘Scared Straight’ segment to air on A&E

ALBANY — Some of the staff at the Dougherty County Sheriff’s Office are “going Hollywood” on A&E Network’s Beyond Scared Straight tonight, said Lt. Terron Hayes with Sheriff’s Office.

This is the second time in less than six months the local lawmen have been featured.

The popular television show features law enforcement agencies across the country and their youth “interventions” aimed at heading off lives of crime. Hayes said representatives of “Straight’s” production team contacted Col. John Ostrander with the Sheriff’s Office about a year ago after hearing positive remarks about the agency’s youth programs. Ultimately, members of the production team paid a visit to Southwest Georgia, resulting in an Albany “Scared Straight” segment airing in November, 2013.

A&E was impressed enough with the youth intervention programs, some of which have been in place for more than 15 years, they returned for more, Hayes said.

“Five young individuals are featured on this show,” Hayes said, “and a couple of them seem to have experienced a positive life change and are moving ahead with their lives.”

Hayes said the youths are brought to the jail and and given a “real life in-your-face” look at what it would like to be locked up for a crime. While it doesn’t always do the trick, for many of the youngsters, it’s enough, Hayes said.

Hayes appears in the segment, he said, as well other Sheriff’s personnel including Lt. Tony Brown, Capt. Rocky Mendozza and Sheriff Kevin Sproul. In addition, Superior Court Judge Willie Lockett tries to set the young offenders straight.

According to Hayes, interventions are performed “almost every day” at the Sheriff’s Office when no television personalities are present.

“We get with the child, but we get with the parents, too,” Hayes said. “We try to reboot the situation and the relationship with the parent and help them get to the same page and working together.”

Hayes said that since the first Scared Straight segment, some members of the production team have been impressed enough with the progress and with the youths themselves they’ve continued to stay in touch to help them stay on track.

“It’s like the old adage,” Sproul said, “If you can turn just one individual around, then you’ve done well. We can’t save them all, but we’ve definitely seen a significant and positive change in the behavior of these young people.”

Hayes said Beyond Scared Straight will air at 10 p.m.