WINNEBAGO COUNTY (NBC 26) — Becky Jentsch is the newest hire at Winnebago County Jail. She provides a service that you might not think of when you consider all that goes into keeping a jail running.
“I seen the opportunity come up and I'm like, why not?” Jentsch said.
After a few weeks of interviews and beating out a pool of about 20 candidates, Jentsch was extended a job offer.
On Tuesday, she met Lieutenant Ross Johnson for a tour of her new part-time workplace.
Jentsch will be coming back about once every month as the jail's newest barber.
"Probably about three or four months ago, our current jail barber decided that his business had grown to the point where he was unable to provide that service to our facility anymore," said Johnson. "We put a note on Facebook saying we are in need of a jail barber or cosmetologist to come in and provide that service for our inmates. And we actually had a fair amount of people show interest in that."
“They are individuals just like us. They want to look good and feel good. So, it's an extra little side job for me. So, if I can still make them feel good, well, here I am,” said Jentsch.
Jentsch has worked as a barber in a jail before, about 14 years ago in Sheboygan. She said the work is a lot like employment anywhere, but with extra security measures.
"We're in a room; you have a guard," Jentsch said. "They're in their handcuffs or in their jumpsuits. I mean, they're normal human beings. It's just, they choose different decisions than what we did. And I mean, if you treat them like human beings with respect, I mean, they'll treat you with respect too."
"You obviously don't want to disclose a lot of information about yourself or where you're located or anything like that. I mean, you have to treat them like human beings, but yet at the same time, they are in there for a reason. So you have to be cautious," said Jentsch.
"The officer’s in there, so there's nothing to be afraid of," she added.
She said what she provides is dignity.
“They still have court. They still have to be presentable. They still have to go in front of the judge. So I mean, they want to look nice. So that's, that's one way of helping them. And that's what I'll do,” Jentsch said.
The jail only needs one barber at a time because the volume of clients doesn't tend to be very out of hand.
"Strange as it is, we only usually have 10 people who need a haircut at a time because we're not a prison; we're a jail. So, our average length of stay is 14 days," Johnson said. "We have people that are here for a day and then we have people that are here for a year or more, so there is a true need for people to get their hair cut. It's just how many."
Johnson said there are a lot of casual services provided at jail.
"Jails operate just like a small city. There's food service, there's a commissary, there's TV for the inmates," said Johnson. "There are services that they need and we figure out how they get them."
“Life goes on even behind the wall,” he said.
"I just like seeing people happy. I like helping people out no matter what their situation is. So if this is my way of giving back somehow — and they thank you. I mean, it's not like they get up and just walk away. They are very appreciative of it. So, I don't know, it just makes you feel good," Jentsch said.
The jail charges $20 per haircut and $5 per beard trim. Inmates can pay for the services through a Money on Books system.
