Jerry Bristow of Middlesex County has been appointed superintendent of the Middle Peninsula Regional Security Center in Saluda. He stepped into the new job on Monday, following the retirement on Friday of former superintendent Tim Doss of Mathews.
As superintendent, Bristow is in charge of the large facility, which employs 72 people and has a $7 million budget. He said he has no major changes planned, since Doss “really set us up for success,” including restructuring the command staff just before his departure.
Bristow said that his underlying philosophy as a superintendent will be to “treat people the way you would want to be treated—with respect.” The majority of offenders at the security center are “good people who just made a mistake,” he said, and they’re people that “you’ll see in the grocery store in the future.”
“We’re not here to punish,” he said. “Their punishment is being separated from society.”
The job of superintendent has been a goal of Bristow’s since he first went to w...