Court transcripts-pt1
CTV: Welcome to Court TV Online chats.
We're going to be talking to Sheriff Hege from North Carolina.
You may have heard of his show on CTV or on the radio.
It usually consists of people calling in to talk to his "guests."
The guests are prisoners in his jail.
Hege has a reputation for being one of the toughest sheriffs in America.
He paints the insides of the jail pink, with teddy bears, just to humiliate the inmates.
And he has re-instituted the old "chain gang" as part of his regimen.
What do you think of that?
Is it too much? Or are you glad someone is finally making jail a lousy place to be?
Do you think prisoners have too many rights?
or too few?
Something you may not expect from a tough cookie like him is that he's a clean liver.
He doesn't drink, and he's not a racist or anything like that.
He just believes in being tough on criminals.
Something that actually strikes me as funny about the Hege situation is that even though he's a tough guy, he's probably the only jailer in the country who actually talks to his inmates.
It's one thing to lock them up in a pretty jail, but he talks to them on his show.
I was just saying that the reason we're doing this chat now is that CTV renewed Sheriff Hege's show.
It starts again tonight at 11:30pET
I don't think there are call ins anymore, so it will be interesting to see what Hege by himself has to say to a room full of prisoners.
blondgal_00 asks: well i am from england we do not have sherrifs
ctv_will: How do you treat your inmates in England?
Do you focus on reform or punishment?
That's a good question for Hege.
I don't know what he does to actually reform and rehabilitate these people.
Does he just make them hate the system even more?
Did I mention that his wife helps him run the jail?
It's a family business I guess.
About that community question, don't forget that Sheriff is an elected position.
So if people really didn't like what he was doing , they wouldn't vote for him.
Do you think he does all this as a way of political pandering? "tough on crime" and all that?
I'm pretty sure there are no computers in jail.
Certainly not ones with internet access, but I wonder what Hege thinks about them.
Maybe if his criminals knew how to work computers they could get jobs and not have to committ crimes.
Or maybe they'd just be computer criminals.
warlock_76525 asks: hey will are u an inmate
ctv_will: I'm not one of Sheriff Hege's inmates, but sometimes I feel like one LOL!
ctv_will: I've got him here
Welcome Sheriff Hege!
ctv_guest: Thank you.
daisypusher23 asks: Do you notice some consistencies in the criminals' stories about how they got that way?
Sheriff Hege: Most of it starts at home around the parents
Broken home, single parent, alcohol and drug use, and unfortunately in a lot of occasions, physical abuse as a child.
Even though most of us would assume that that would deter you from turning out like your parents, most often than not it seems to be some kind of rebellious act to be as bad or worse than your parents.
Even to the extent sometimes it seems a child is trying to punish the parent.
Some tell me that they watched their parents get drunk and high and they didn't get to play ball or have fun, so they see it as a way to cause their parents as much trouble as they could.
harleybr549 asks: why do you tale the time to talk to your inmates ?
Sheriff Hege: I got that trait from Vietnam.
When I would speak to captured vietcong or NVA prisoners.
Trying to learn from their methods of guerilla warfare,
which would enable me as a soldier to counter any measures they may use against me.
It's the same as the criminlas, the more I can find out about what makes them think and tic and react, I can use this information against them which helps me in their capture.
harleybr549 asks: how long have you been in law enforcement ?
Sheriff Hege: I came in as a regular deputy sheriff.
In a time when you had no walkie talkies, you had no K-9's and you had no back up or ride along partner.
Kind of like the Buford Pusser type hero when a lot of law enforcement was being bought off and paid off.
I was honest and treated everyone fairly but soon found out that a lot of elected officials were crooked and being bought off and underminig everything an honest law man would try to do.
I left in 1974 for this reason, and I vowed to never come back to law enforcement unless I was the high sheriff.
And 25 years later I did so.
mxpxgrrl_13 asks: How does it feel to have a reputation of being one the toughest Sheriff in the country? Are you proud of the fact that you're known to many as being harsh and cruel?
Sheriff Hege: I think anyone who makes that statement is compared along those lines of being the toughest.
It's like the sign says "we serve the best BBQ in the state," and then a week later you see a sign that says "we server the best BBQ in the nation."
It's all in the eye of the beholder.
I think if you interviewed the inmates, they would say that the sheriff is a very tough man, but he treats everyone the same.
I think people tend to associate the word tough with someone who is beating prisoners and sicing dogs on them, when in actuality, it is taking on the politicians, refusing the bribes, and treating everyone equally and fairly.
Which is my definition of being tough.
socalbeachgirl_99 asks: How do the prisoners react to the cells being painted pink and cutesy?? Does that make them angrier?
Sheriff Hege: Most of the time, the first reaction is a lot of laughter.
But after a few days the response is usually that it does make them feel childish.
The average age in there is about 35, most prisoners tell me it makes them think about how or why they're in jail at 35 with nothing to show for themselves.
And how silly and childish it is for a grown man to be in jail for the crimes they've committed.
snarfpildy asks: Sheriff Hege, how about running for President?
Sheriff Hege: I don't think that would happen.
It would be very difficult for someone like myself who does not take large campaign contributions.
Unfortunately in America today, the presidential race is based solely on who can raise the most money and get the most media.
I think only campaign finance reform would be the only thing that would change the current trend.
harleybr549 asks: do other law enforcement agencies come to you for advice ?
Sheriff Hege: Even though a lot of them don't like to admit it, a lot of them do.
I get a lot of phone calls from around the country about some of my controversial tactics.
The wearing of military uniforms, and roadblocks or checkpoints are the ones most discussed.
ctv_will: Are those the most effective of your tactics?
Sheriff Hege: Right, the checkpoints are our number one crime fighting tool, and the tough jail would be number two.
We do over 200 checkpoints a month while checking some 87,000 cars annually.
This serves as a deterrant to criminals living outside of Davidson county (NC) who may be contemplating coming there to commit crimes.
They usually have second thoughts.
blondgal_00 asks: is there a death row in your prison
Sheriff Hege: Even though there is no death row in local jails, that's only in the state prison systems, I am in favor of the death penalty.
The problem here in America is prisoners tend to sit on death row for an average of 9 to 10 years, and by the time they're put to death, the murder they committed has been forgotten about.
The only way that I see that it would work as intended, is for it to be carried out in a short period of time.
licha_21 asks: Do you believe there is reform for men and women that do crimes?
Sheriff Hege: I think the only way that will ever work is that we do away with probation
which is basically giving people three and four chances.
If they would have all first offenders come to a jail like mine, I think you would not need an in house educational plan or on the job training.
I think that would be sufficient.
daisypusher23 asks: Do you ever allow the victims to confront the criminals on your show?
Sheriff Hege: Most definitely.
We've had people, especially on the call in segment of the show, and I think we have it planned for some victims to come on the show at a later day and confront some of the prisoners.
daisy40199 asks: Do they have puters in jail?
harleybr549 asks: how do you feel about an inmate being involved in this chat ?
macaw_12 asks: should there be comp in jail?
Sheriff Hege: No, there is not computers in our jail, just as there is no phone and no TVs.
People must remember that a jail is a holding facility, it is not a prison.
But I would not favor having any type of communication to the outside because these people have chose not to go by the rules of society.
harleybr549 asks: what is the nicest thing you do for your inamtes ?
Sheriff Hege: Well,
I teach them manors, and respect for others, as well as for themselves.
And change their attitude and outlook on life in general.
ctv_will: Have any former inmates come back to thank you?
Sheriff Hege: Yes, on numerous occasions we've had them come in.
They got a hair cut, took the earrings off, got a good job...
And that's a rewarding feeling to have them come see us.
And we get them some good jobs as well.
My thing is that once you've served your time, whether it's 3 years or 3 days, once you've paid your debt, I will not hesitate to help them get back on the right track.
skate_surf_2000 asks: Hi Sheriff Hege. I was wondering, why did you stop having police cars lead the family through the city?
Sheriff Hege: Funeral escorts is what I guess you're referring to.
We found out that the funeral homes were charging 75 dollars for escorts which were being performed by on duty deputy sheriffs. I felt like this was a rip off to the tax payers since they were already paying the deputys' salaries.
A lot of the family members were under the assumption that the sheriff's office was being paid some type of fee when in fact we were not.
Recently there was a traffic law passed in NC which gives a funeral procession a right to stop and proceed through red lights and stop signs, which eliminates
the need for any escort in the future.
NavyGal74 asks: I am in the Navy and I have noticed that the court system has allowed a choice of either the military or jail, this makes the military look bad & they still do the same things so why does the court system to allow this to happen ?
Sheriff Hege: This is a discretionary judgment call by the particular judge.
It was a very popular thing during the Korean war and the Vietnam war but I would agree with you that it is no longer needed and should not be tolerated.
If they're scum out here, they're going to be scum in the service.
harleybr549 asks: how does the community respond to your ways of thinking ?
Sheriff Hege: I think the best way to answer that is that recently, in the last election, I won by a margin of 5,000 votes, which is the largest victory
in a sheriff's race in Davidson county.
And I was also named 1999 man of the year by one of the largest liberal radio stations in the Piedmont triad.
