Natasha Brown - Distinguished Diversity Award

Lieutenant Natasha Brown’s assignment to the Jackson County Detention Center provided her with the opportunity to positively enhance the atmosphere of inclusion within the Jackson County Detention Center.

Natasha seized this opportunity and works tirelessly to advance all employees of all backgrounds and groups in one of the most diverse facilities in the region. She does an excellent job at welcoming new staff during employee orientation. She also spends time to get to know the new employees and build a professional rapport to advocate for them and any needs they might have.

One example of her efforts might seem minor at first but sets an incredible tone of acceptance for Corrections staff is the time and effort she puts into learning how to correctly pronounce a new employee’s name. The diverse collection of backgrounds, cultures and nationalities represented within the JCDC creates a bevy of names for her to learn. Some names include accents, spellings and even sounds that are definitely foreign to Natasha, a small-town Oklahoma native. She works hard to accurately pronounce every name as she presents them a certificate of training completion. Learning someone’s name is a basic issue, but her commitment to putting in sincere effort is often above and beyond what others are willing to try and goes a tremendous way toward proving to staff that we are welcome just as we are.

Another example of the value of Lt. Brown’s commitment to fostering diversity comes from a recent Correctional Officer Academy. The Academy class had several new officers originally from various nations. As the Academy progressed and the officers spent long hours training, learning, and testing alongside each other, some friction began to develop along cultural lines. Lt. Brown took time to address the delicate situation in a respectful manner which allowed for the officers to build a greater understanding of their diverse backgrounds. Without this skilled intervention, the organization would likely have lost multiple valuable employees. Protecting the reputation of the Detention Center as a welcoming place for staff of different backgrounds is vital as the facility benefits significantly from retaining staff from diverse communities.

Natasha is also a vital part of the annual training process, teaching required refreshers on diverse lifestyles, equal access and treatment, and protecting inmates’ rights. The JCDC must provide fair and equal treatment to all people detained in the facility and she advocates strongly to provide staff knowledge to maintain an understanding of gender, orientation and lifestyle.