Correctional boot camps first opened in the United States in Georgia and Oklahoma in 1983. These camps are part of the adult correctional system. According to the National Criminal Justice Service (NCJRS), boot camps are in prison programs with the correctional sanction that demonstrate Military Basic Tactics such as , physical training, drills, ceremonies, education etc. Correctional boot camps are also referred to as shock probation and or intensive incarceration. Cook County Boot Camp presently known as Vocational Rehabilitation Impact Center or V.R.I.C. is another alternative when sentencing an inmate, other than a traditional prison sentence. The Boot Camp/Vocational Rehabilitation Impact Center is within the Cook County Jail located on a 10.2 acre.
Cook County Jail
The Cook County Sheriff’s Department runs the Cook County Jail, boot camp and it depends on its partnership with the local court system and Department of Corrections to operate the boot camp. The Cook County Jail, boot camp is a 12 month program, which includes 18 weeks of military style boot camp setting and consists of 240 day intensive after care program (ncjrs). The inmates live in platoon style dormitories with 48 inmates in each platoon. The program is intended to provide incarceration for inmates who received court orders. These court orders generally involve non-violent offenders and they typically receive a 4 month firm detention sentence. The 12 moth program is broken up into two phases, the residential and post release phase (cookcountysheriff). The residential phase involves eighteen weeks of intense military correction. The post release phase is ongoing for eight months and a case manager is assigned to the inmate. The inmate is obligated to communicate on a daily basis with the assigned case manager.
Cook County Jail, Boot Camp is designed for those who are first and second non- violent offenders. Men that range from the age 17-35