Detention Sergeant James Davenport grew up just a few-hundred feet from the Lexington County Sheriff’s Department.
He remembers watching the deputy sheriff cars passing his house on the way to the Sheriff’s Department’s headquarters. Now, Davenport is 12 years into his career at the Lexington County Detention Center.
When his son was nearing birth in 2010, Davenport started as a detention deputy, wanting a stable job to take care of his expanding family.
Since then, Davenport has acquired many experiences as a booking officer, classification officer and working with federal programs. As booking sergeant, he currently oversees the booking and release processes for inmates.
“I think the best part is booking people in…they come in under drugs or alcohol and they’ve been here, they get out and they’re sober,” Davenport said. “And you get to release them back into the community knowing that they can better suit the community because they’re not on drugs anymore.”
Davenport said the family atmosphere with his co-workers in the Detention Center is a crucial part of his job.
“If you’re going through stuff, people will call and check on you,” Davenport said. “You know they’re always there to have your back if you’re going through stuff… We collect money for them if they’ve been out for a long period of time, so they won’t fall back on their bills.”
Davenport credits many sergeants, lieutenants and his major for training and giving him knowledge about the field in his 12 years at the Detention Center. An important part of this training was dealing with inmates.
“Growing up in Lexington County, I know a lot of people that come in here,” Davenport said. “I treat them how I want to be treated because at the end of the day, everybody is somebody’s sister, brother, father, mother.”