DuPage County Jail offering free tattoo removal services
DuPAGE COUNTY, Ill. - The DuPage County Jail is taking a unique approach to getting inmates out of gangs forever.
They are offering free tattoo removal services.
The sheriff says it provides inmates with hope and purpose.
Tattoo removal is just a part of a job placement program offered at the jail.
Inmates can take courses in anger management and career training which includes painting, tiling, dry walling, horticulture and professional cleaning.
The sheriff says the recidivism rate for inmates who take part versus those who doesn’t goes from 70 to 15 percent.
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"When I go down to the jail and talk to these people you can tell they're reformed. We have people come in and can't even be housed next to each other because they're in opposing gangs, and now they're doing horticulture programs together. So it stops all that conflict within our correctional facility," said Sheriff James Mendrick.
Forty-two inmates, the sheriff said, are graduating with GED’s.