CUTLINES: Troy Mayor Jason Reeves declared May 4-10 as National Correctional Officers and Employees Week. (Josh Boutwell) 

Troy Mayor Jason Reeves signed a proclamation on Monday, May 5, declaring this week National Correctional Officers and Employees Week. 

National Correctional Officers and Employees Week was first proclaimed on May 5, 1984, by former President Ronald Reagan to recognize the men and women in law enforcement who work in jails and community corrections across the country. The week of May 4-10, 2025, has been designated as National Correctional Officers and Employees Week by the U.S. Department of Justice and Federal Bureau of Prisons. 

Reeves signed the proclamation as he was surrounded by correctional officers and jailers from Pike County Jail and the Troy City Jail.

“Since we’ve had communities we’ve had people that wanted to live outside of the way the community deemed appropriate,” Reeves said. “That meant over time people needed to be incarcerated. That is a hard thing to deal with and you all handle it every day. Y’all provide a service that is necessary for everything we do in public safety, law enforcement and first responders. We appreciate you and everything that you do. None of this works without you.” 

Troy Police Chief Danny Barron echoed Reeves’ thoughts on the local jailers.

“It’s unfortunate that we have to have prisons and jail facilities but we do,” he said. “When people act up and have to go to jail and serve time it’s very important we have people there to care for them. That’s our jailers’ jobs every day, to make sure inmates are cared for, have their medications they need and get seen about daily. It’s a tough job.”

Barron said jailers also have to have compassion, which is part of hoping that inmates don’t return when they ultimately leave.

“They see the people that come into the jails on their worst days and have to deal with a lot of tough situations,” said Barron. “At the same time, they are compassionate people and get to know these people that are serving time. Our hope is that in that time they spend down there that maybe they learn and don’t come back. Our jailers provide a great service to our community. There is no way we could function as a government – and do our jobs – without our corrections officers.”