Estimated read time: 5-6 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
SPANISH FORK — Inmates and deputies are building bridges with each other through the Code 7 Cafe at the Utah County Jail in Spanish Fork
The Code 7 Cafe is one part of the inmate kitchen program that makes almost 3,000 meals a day at the jail.
About 35 inmates and 10 paid full-time employees keep the kitchen running seven days a week. One team of inmates works in the bakery and another team makes meals for Meals on Wheels, which provides food for senior centers in the county.
Some of the inmates do the dishes and bus tables while others prep the food for all 500 inmates. A team of inmates who work for the Code 7 Cafe provides lunch for around 100 Utah County Sheriff's Office employees every day, plus breakfast on the weekends.
Because the cafe is so interfaced with inmates, there isn't general public access to the cafe. Deputies can't leave the jail during their shifts because even on their lunch break, they have to be able to respond at any moment.
In law enforcement, if you are working out on patrol, calling into dispatch and saying "code seven" means you are on your lunch break but still available, making it a perfect opportunity for the jail to name it Code 7 Cafe.
Building bridges
"We have to provide food for the deputies working here and anybody else that is required to stay here through their lunch, so we figured might as well make a program that bridges gaps, builds relationships, teaches somebody a valuable skill that's applicable out in society," deputy Chris Nielson said.
Nielson is the food services administrator for the jail's kitchen. He said the kitchen program "does a ton of good" and has helped many inmates grow in skills and confidence.
"We've had a number of inmates that have never cooked anything more than ramen and they leave here knowing how to make just about anything," he said.
From baking pies and rolls to making complicated dishes of varying cuisines, the last eight years of the kitchen program have given inmates a way to learn, push themselves and be creative. Nielson said sometimes the kitchen will incorporate family recipes from the staff or the inmates to give the workers a personal connection.
A big part of the cafe is giving inmates a customer service experience where they have to interact with customers as they go through the small buffet line, Nielson said.
"Somebody that has been in and out of jail or is struggling from addiction or whatever is going on in their life, and they have had all these interactions with law enforcement, not always in the most positive light," Nielson said.
But through working at the cafe, the inmates get to have positive experiences with law enforcement where their efforts are appreciated and noticed.
"Being able to build that relationship with law enforcement bridges both sides," he said.
Developing rapport between both sides in a productive and healthy way has been huge for a lot of the people who have participated in the kitchen program.
"It's been pretty big with a lot of these guys. A lot of the inmate workers have said to me things like, 'All I've ever dealt with this guy is when he's arresting me or chasing me down,'" Nielson said.
The cafe lets the workers and law enforcement see each other in a different way, find common ground and, often, they start joking with each other and interacting in positive ways.
"Oftentimes when law enforcement have an encounter with somebody, it's typically that person's worst day. Whatever is going on in their life, that's usually a low point. And so to see each other in a more positive light has some big impact in a positive way for both sides of the spectrum," according to Nielson.
Preparing for life after jail
Anyone in the jail can submit a job request and apply to work in the kitchen. Nielson said the inmates have to go through an interview process to determine if they will be a good fit in the kitchen, but once they're accepted, "it's a baptism by fire."
The kitchen program helps inmates learn skills such as cooking, food safety, communication, working with others, customer service and more to help them prepare for future jobs once they are out of jail.
All of the individuals in the kitchen program get paid $6 a day while learning how to work in the food industry. Sometimes the sheriff's office will host events with other law enforcement agencies and the office will utilize the inmates on the dining room team in the cafe to prep and cater the food.
Nielson said all of the kitchen employees are hard-working and he is just hoping to keep improving the program as time goes on. There have been several people who have gotten jobs at nice restaurants after leaving the jail because of their experience at the Code 7 Cafe.
"The real focus of the Code 7 Cafe, it's really genuinely about the inmates," Nielson said.
The kitchen program emulates the progression people experience in jobs in the real world, Nielson said. Inmates who work hard in the kitchen program and do a good job can move on to Jail Industries, where they can work in a garden or do other off-site work programs that provide more opportunities.
"How do you prepare someone to go out into society from this kind of an environment where you're told what to do, when to do and how to do it?" Nielson said.
The program allowing inmates to start in the kitchen and get a little bit of autonomy and responsibility to develop healthy living and social habits, then continuing on to Jail Industries, where participants experience more freedom and connection to the community, helps lower recidivism, according to Nielson.
"As far as corrections and jail goes, I think it's a pretty darn good program that helps people reintegrate into society as much as they can, if they want it," Nielson said.
Some inmates in the kitchen are also part of RISE, a behavioral drug rehabilitation program that helps inmates create healthy lifestyles and prepares them to be productive members of society.
