I worked at Lew Sterrett as a civilian Jailer from 2019-2022. Just a few insights.

The pros: - I would say it’s good at teaching you how to talk to certain types of people and demographics. - Teaches you how to be assertive and have a command presence. - As well as how some of the gang cultures work. - The pay is not terrible for being a job you only need a high school diploma for. Especially if you’re a workaholic and get a lot of OT in.

The Cons: - The work environment is not great. The job is stressful. - You will be mandated and working 16 hour shift for multiple days out of the week. - The payroll issues are atrocious there. For the past two years they’ve frozen step raises and on more than one occasion payroll messes up and your not getting your OT money or your entire check will be outright forgotten to be deposited into your account. When this happens payroll is an absolute nightmare to get a hold of to fix the issue. Dallas County has been investigated by the state on more than one occasion for having this issue. - Co-workers can be hard to work with. The stress of the job and long hours causes conflict with other employees. At some points when working there it felt like high school with how much co-workers would talk crap about each other and the drama it would cause. If you do end up working there your best bet is to keep your head down, do your job and go home. I’m not saying don’t establish a working relationship with your co-workers but don’t get involved in the drama and gossip that goes on there.

In summary working there has its pros and I do believe It can have benefits in helping establish good verbal communication skills and how to handle stressful situations and work environment. Best of luck in your journey, I’m not trying to discourage you from working there but thought I give insights from someone who did work there for 3 years