Most people associate the Virginia Department of Corrections with prisons, but it’s also in charge of 43 probation and parole districts that supervise prisoners after release.
Director Chadwick Dotson says that’s a big part of the agency’s job.
“Our entire mission with the Virginia Department of Corrections is public safety, and that’s not just ‘Let’s lock people up.’ It’s ‘How do we create long-term public safety?’" he explains. "We’re supervising a number of individuals – the vast majority of which just want to have happy, successful lives and we want to support that, because not only is it good for those individuals’ lives, it’s good for their families and it’s good for their communities, and – again – these are the communities where we live.”
Each neighborhood has planned its own celebration with parades, parties, cookouts, safety demonstrations and activities for kids.
