More than 3,000 people, namely parents, mentors and teens, made their way into the Kearny Mesa Juvenile Detention Facility on Saturday to get an inside look at what it’s really like to live in custody.
Juvenile Hall officials held their annual open house event for the public from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the facility located on Meadow Lark Drive.
Organizers say the behind-the-scenes tour is designed to be an eye-opening experience of what life is like for youth in custody. With probation officers serving as tour guides for the day, teen visitors come to understand the serious consequences of poor decisions and illegal behavior.
The open house includes a look into the juvenile courtroom process, as well as living conditions at Juvenile Hall, including simple uniforms, showers and locked rooms that become a part of daily live in custody.
At times throughout the tour, probation officers tell young visitors to walk single file with their arms crossed, in the controlled style of real-life detainees.
Organizers say the main goal is to prevent more local youths from winding up in Juvenile Hall.
During Saturday’s event, that message was loud and clear.
Local
One local 14-year-old boy, who’s currently living in a group home, toured the premises with chaperones and told NBC 7 that the visit made him want to behave well and not get into illegal activity.
Another visitor, Kathleen Donnelly – who was once in custody at the Kearny Mesa Juvenile Detention Facility – attended the event as a reminder of how far she’s come. She told NBC 7 she’s turned her life around since her days in custody.
“I was an inmate here when I was 17. It was a big part of what changed my life. I experienced a lot here; a lot of discipline and a lot of change,” Donnelly told NBC 7.
According to the County of San Diego website, the Kearny Mesa Juvenile Detention Facility opened in 1954 and has a maximum capacity of 359 detainees.
The facility currently houses pre-teens, teenagers and young adults with an average age of 15. The teens who live there have committed a range of offenses, from property and drug-related offenses to acts of violence.
The facility provides structured educational and social programming to youth in custody that’s designed to address the root of their delinquent behaviors and reform the way they choose to live.
