March 28, 2024
BANGOR DAILY NEWS (BANGOR, MAINE

Blocking jail window puts end to catcalls

All sexual-harassment cases should be so easy to resolve: Penobscot County officials had only to block a window to handle one recent complaint.

Last month, Register of Deeds Cynthia Growe complained to the County Commissioners that inmates at the county jail next door were whistling and catcalling to her and other women. The jail’s outdoor recreation area is on a roof.

Inmates taking exercise would look out a window-type opening in the brick enclosure and call to women walking below, from the parking lot to the county courthouse.

“This happens all the time, but this Tuesday (two weeks ago) I was really irked,” Growe said Tuesday. “I just reached the boiling point. … It’s not just me. Every woman who walks in the back door (gets) it. So I guess I’m doing this on behalf of the women of Penobscot County.”

The commissioners meet on Tuesdays, and she brought her complaint to them that day. They referred it to the sheriff’s department, and as a result, the opening was covered. Growe praised the swift handling of her complaint, calling it “a very admirable solution.”

Her deputy, Carol Perkins, poked her head into her boss’s office to agree that the situation was much improved.

Now, she said, “it’s a real relief going out there at lunchtime.”


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