Two criminal justice students may be spending a night in jail if everything goes according to their plan.
Jeremy Ferguson and Taylor Kidd, both second-year criminal justice students, are hoping that by spending a night in a Lethbridge jail cell they will be able to raise a minimum of $1,000 through pledges for a charity.
While it’s still at a very basic planning stage, Ferguson has many ideas regarding the fundraiser that he’d like to see take shape in the future.
“I came up with this idea because I’ve been told the Leo Club gets points for fundraisers and I wanted to do something that involved the criminal justice system. I want it to be a fun-raiser,” Ferguson said.
Ferguson and Kidd have very specific reasons for picking a jail as the location of the event.
“I think it’s good to get criminal justice students on the other end of the system. How many police can say they’ve spent a night in jail? It’ll provide a fresh perspective,” Ferguson said.
“Being that we’re in criminal justice it appeals to the audience we’re looking at,” said Kidd.
Ferguson and Kidd are also hoping that as a part of the event there will be a mock arrest as a way to heighten awareness of the event itself.
Once in jail, Ferguson doesn’t want any precautions to be taken for him and other participants.
“I want to be treated exactly like an inmate for the night,” Ferguson said.
They are looking into liability issues and signing waivers. Officers will be needed to monitor students as there will be other people in holding cells for criminal reasons.
Ferguson has spoken to Const. Richard Borthwick of the Lethbridge Regional Police Department about such an event taking place and they are both waiting to hear back from Borthwick’s superiors.
Once the event is a sure thing, Ferguson wants to contact Global Lethbridge and the Lethbridge Herald as a way to raise awareness in the community.
Originally the plan was to raise money for the homeless, that may not be the case now.
The charities in mind are the YWCA and Mothers Against Drunk Driving.