UWEC  Department of Geography and Anthropology

Student Analysis of Eau Claire County Jail Location

“The University of Wisconsin has substantial talent that could be engaged by the County Board and the Criminal Justice Collaborating Council.  The NIC consultants interviewed a member of the Criminal Justice Faculty who immediately thought of a number of possibilities that might be provided by the Political Science Department, the faculty and students in the Criminal Justice Department, and perhaps faculty with information system skills and experience (p. 31/32, Eau Claire County NIC Report, 2008).”

Introduction — NIC Report

                 At the end of February, 2008, the Jail Division, National Institute of Corrections, U.S. Bureau of Prisons (NIC) released the Eau Claire County Local Justice System Assessment.  The report was provided as technical assistance to the leadership of justice agencies and units of government operating the justice system within Eau Claire County, Wisconsin. 

                 Recommendations in the report include the need for improved public participation, better analysis of existing data, and use of UWEC expertise to analyze data.   Our University, with its emphasis on faculty-student collaborative research, is ideally suited to make just such high value contributions to local environmental and social needs and issues, and many departments have already been involved in doing so.

                 One example of the contribution UWEC can make to the jail issue is from Dr. Christina Hupy’s Advanced Geographic Information Systems (GIS) class, Spring 2008.   In the class, geography major Beth Ellison created a series of maps that show the location of the currently proposed new jail in relation to NIC jail siting recommendations.

In its Jail Design Guide for small and medium sized jails, the NIC lists site selection first among numerous major design considerations.  “It is important that the jail be located in appropriate surroundings . . . .  The best locations are in government, light industrial, or commercial areas. In general, the jail should not be near a school, a housing area, a church, or a recreation area (p.3-8).” In Jail Site Evaluation and Selection, preference is for “no development in or near wetlands, flood plains, fragile landscapes, or historic/archeological sites (p. 13).”

                 Using NIC and Eau Claire community preferences, Ms. Ellison analyzed six criteria to determine a suitable jail location.  Based on her analysis, the currently proposed jail site lies at the edge of a zone in which all six criteria overlap.  For maps of the jail in relation to each of  these , click on Jail Location Maps.

Jail Location Analysis

The currently proposed site for the new Eau Claire County Jail complex lies in a region that has a high concentration of site criteria conflicts.  Click on the above image to learn more.  A Google Map view helps situate the proposed expansion in real space.

Click on Jail Location Maps to view the location of the proposed Eau Claire County jail in relation to schools, parks and other sites near which a jail is not recommended.

Click here to see the ”footprint” of the  proposed jail complex in real space using Google Maps.

For questions about this website, UWEC’s student-faculty collaboration, or to learn more about geography and its potential contributions to local issues, contact Dr. Paul Kaldjian;  to learn more about the power and application of Geographic Information Systems toward understanding our world, or the techniques use in preparing these maps, contact Dr. Christina Hupy.  Both are in the  Department of Geography & Anthropology, UW-Eau Claire, 105 Garfield Ave., Eau Claire, WI 54701, (715) 836-3244.