Detective Rachel Baer of the Portland Police Bureau testified today that she is not sure exactly what "Sheridan" is as she tried to explain Jeremy Christian's rantings about OSP (Oregon State Penitentiary), Two Rivers (Two Rivers Correctional Institution), MCDC (Multnomah County Detention Center), and Sheridan. She knew that the others were two state prisons and one county jail, but didn't know if "Sheridan" referred to a jail or a prison. I quickly told her after the hearing that it is "all of the above." As the Federal Correctional Institution in Sheridan, Oregon (FCI Sheridan) Facebook Page clearly states:
"The only federal prison in Oregon is the Federal Correctional Institution in Sheridan, Oregon (FCI Sheridan). It includes a medium security FCI, a minimum security camp (FPC Sheridan), and detention center (FDC Sheridan). People find themselves at each one for different reasons."
That information is readily available online and any police officer in Oregon should at least be aware that the name most commonly used in reference to Oregon's only federal correctional facility is FCI Sheridan. She only referred to it as "Sheridan" without the FCI prefix and she wasn't even sure if it was a jail or a prison. It is both. If she took the time to learn what Jeremy was talking about she might have made herself a better detective. The FCI Sheridan Facebook Page further elaborates:
"At FCI Sheridan, inmates typically end up there because they are from Oregon or some other state in the northwest that has no federal prison of its own. There are however other reasons inmates have been sent to Sheridan by the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) in recent years. The BOP has been trying to turn Sheridan into a protective custody yard for people that cannot survive in general population at normal prisons. Such people include sex offenders, snitches, former gang members known as dropouts, and guys that just did not feel like paying their debts elsewhere."
If she knew more about Sheridan she could say things to anyone facing possible federal charges like, "tell me what I want to know and I'll ask the feds to send you to Sheridan" or "its ok that you are a child molester just tell me the truth and I'll ask the feds to send you to Sheridan where you'll be just fine." Many have cooperated with law enforcement just to go to Sheridan, so as a law enforcement officer in Oregon, Detective Baer should know that she can offer Sheridan to potential snitches in exchange for their cooperation or to child molesters in exchange for not forcing their victims through a trial.
Also, she testified that the car she was driving was a special car capable of recording sound. Shouldn't all police cars record sound? Or is it more useful for police to still have the option to say they heard a suspect confess in the back seat without any proof?