{"id":663,"date":"2014-07-21T17:23:15","date_gmt":"2014-07-21T22:23:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nicholls.edu\/magazine\/?p=663"},"modified":"2014-07-21T17:23:15","modified_gmt":"2014-07-21T22:23:15","slug":"jail","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nicholls.edu\/magazine\/2014\/07\/21\/jail\/","title":{"rendered":"Graduate finds hope behind jail walls"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Renee<\/a>
With her big heart and no-nonsense attitude, Renee Brinkley (BGS \u201903) tries to reform inmates in her role as head administrator of corrections for Lafourche Parish Sheriff’s Office.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A former beauty products businesswoman with a bright smile and warm, welcoming demeanor, Renee Brinkley (BGS \u201903) is not the person you\u2019d expect to find running the parish\u2019s correction facilities.<\/p>\n

Lafourche\u2019s head administrator of corrections for the past three years, Brinkley oversees the parish jail in Thibodaux \u2014 an overcrowded, aging facility housing up to 245 inmates.<\/p>\n

At its best, the jail is an unpleasant place to spend a day. At its worst, it can be downright dangerous. But where many people see a place of punishment, Brinkley sees opportunity. She views inmates as people who are facing not only the biggest challenges of their lives but who are also being presented with a chance to change their path.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhether great or small, we have an opportunity to make a difference in someone\u2019s life every day,\u201d Brinkley says.<\/p>\n

The first woman promoted to major in the Lafourche Parish Sheriff \u2019s Office, Brinkley has worked in law enforcement for 14 years, but her path wasn\u2019t always a clear one. She initially struggled with devoting herself to her studies and deciding on a major, and she left Nicholls before finishing her degree. Brinkley later returned and earned her general studies degree after University College Dean Al Davis convinced her that having diverse interests wasn\u2019t a bad thing.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe really put it together for me when he said, \u2018Renee, it\u2019s okay that you want to be Miss America and the president and a veterinarian and a counselor,\u2019\u201d Brinkley recalls. \u201cFor the first time I really felt like I was okay being a person who was interested in so many different things.\u201d<\/p>\n

A Thibodaux resident for much of her life, Brinkley began her career a long way from the jailhouse \u2014 selling bath and beauty products and guiding businesses for Neill Corporation.<\/p>\n

When the company was bought out, Brinkley found herself at a crossroads. She ran into Lafourche Parish Sheriff Craig Webre at a football game, and he convinced her to work for him as executive director of Weed and Seed, a federally sponsored program that aims to prevent and reduce crime in targeted neighborhoods.<\/p>\n

\u201cWorking in my community and working with people was always my passion, so, for me, it was the perfect job,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

After watching Brinkley navigate tough neighborhoods, her coworkers suggested she undergo formal police officer training. Having never touched a gun before, Brinkley recalls her training as \u201cshocking\u201d and \u201clife-changing.\u201d Leaning on what she learned at the academy, at Nicholls and in her graduate program at the University of New Orleans, she steadily rose through the ranks, serving as captain of the personnel division, major of the civil department and finally head administrator of corrections.<\/p>\n

Running Lafourche Parish\u2019s corrections system takes a firm attitude and the ability to tell people the truth, even when they don\u2019t want to hear it. But the job also takes empathy, something Brinkley has a lot of.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have a huge heart, and sometimes I think that\u2019s my downfall,\u201d she says. \u201cI go home and I worry about the people I\u2019ve met, and I pray for people.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s especially tough in the corrections system, where the goal is to reform inmates in hopes that they\u2019ll change their lives and never return. In reality, many end up back behind bars.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I see the revolving door, I can\u2019t help but question myself and say, where did we fail? I always want to know if I could have done something more,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Not everyone\u2019s going to jail forever, she adds. Ultimately, many inmates are coming back into the community. They could be your neighbor, your mother\u2019s neighbor, a co-worker or someone who does your home repairs.<\/p>\n

\u201cWouldn\u2019t you want to know we did something to make them better?\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

While Brinkley has never felt unaccepted by her mostly male peers in law enforcement, it took time for her to learn that she didn\u2019t have to change her personality or harden herself. She\u2019s kept her big heart intact, even if it means crying at drug court graduation, which celebrates drug offenders who reach sobriety.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was so proud of the graduates,\u201d she says. \u201cFor some of them it took years, but they finally beat their addiction and that\u2019s something to celebrate. So yeah I get excited and I cry \u2014 I learned a long time ago that it\u2019s okay for me to just be who I am.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2014 Written by\u00a0Nikki Buskey, marketing\/communications specialist<\/em><\/p>\n

This article originally appeared in the spring 2014\u00a0issue of The Colonel alumni\u00a0magazine. Click\u00a0here<\/a>\u00a0to read the entire issue.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A former beauty products businesswoman with a bright smile and warm, welcoming demeanor, Renee Brinkley (BGS \u201903) is not the person you\u2019d expect to find running the parish\u2019s correction facilities. Lafourche\u2019s head administrator of corrections for the past three years, Brinkley oversees the parish jail in Thibodaux \u2014 an overcrowded, aging facility housing up to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-663","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nGraduate finds hope behind jail walls - The Colonel<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nicholls.edu\/magazine\/2014\/07\/21\/jail\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Graduate finds hope behind jail walls - The Colonel\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A former beauty products businesswoman with a bright smile and warm, welcoming demeanor, Renee Brinkley (BGS \u201903) is not the person you\u2019d expect to find running the parish\u2019s correction facilities. 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