A producer for a popular show on the A&E cable network wants to profile the Fulton County Sheriff’s Youth Intervention Program for an upcoming episode of “Beyond Scared Straight.”
Arnold Shapiro, a producer with multiple Emmys and an Oscar award to his credit, and the Fulton County Sheriff’s office on Dec. 21 said they are discussing the possibility. The county hasn’t officially signed off on the project. Tracy Flanagan, spokeswoman for Sheriff Ted Jackson, said the county manager’s office must make the final determination. Flanagan said the county’s program is a “more sensitive, serious approach” to warning youth about the consequences of making bad decisions.
Shapiro said the “Beyond Scared Straight” show, “profiles various prison and jail deterrence programs aimed at at-risk teenagers who law enforcement or counselors or parents feel could benefit from getting a preview of their future.”
“We bring the kids down and we take them through the court system,” Flanagan said of Fulton County’s program. “They may have the opportunity to talk with the judge and public defenders. They take a trip to the jail. They eat a jail lunch. They get a chance to talk with inmates and they see the process from top to bottom and when we’re done with that we bring them downtown and they are asked to write an essay about their experiences … It’s not the yelling-in-your-face kind of ‘Scared Straight.’”
Shapiro in 1979 won an Oscar for the yelling-in-your-face version of “Scared Straight.” His body of work, much of it crime and public safety documentaries, earned him multiple Emmys. Shapiro called the Fulton County Sheriff’s Youth Intervention Program, “a very effective, powerful program.”
“We have observed the program,” Shapiro said. “We love it. We’ve committed to filming it.”
No filming or air dates have been finalized. Flanagan said the show would not cost the county anything and the county may charge a fee for using the facilities.
“They’ve offered to make a donation to the Sheriff’s Office,” Flanagan said.
