Ninety prisoners in a room with a detention officer, and no bars -- that, in a nutshell, is the modern jail concept called "direct supervision."
Tulsa County Sheriff's Office Chief Deputy Rick Weigel tells KRMG that when he first heard the idea, and realized they were going to try it in the new Tulsa County jail, he thought it would never work.
"Whenever I was told about how direct supervision worked, I was sitting in my mind -- and being a street cop for 35 years -- I'm going 'are you out of your mind?'"
Now, he says, he praises the system far and wide to anyone who'll listen.
"After seeing the virtues of direct supervision, I do not hesitate to get up on a soapbox and preach what (it) can do for a jail."
He tells KRMG the clincher came during a visit to the Tulsa State Fair.
He saw a man about 35 feet away who spotted him, made a 90-degree turn, and came straight for him.
Weigel braced for a confrontation, but instead, he got confirmation of how the direct supervision system had changed things forever inside the Tulsa jail.
"He said 'I just want to tell you, I really appreciate the way you treated me,'" Weigel recalled. "'You never ordered, you never were condescending, you asked in a fashion that I was doing you a favor. I just want to say thank you for treating me the way you did. You have a good day, Cap,' and turned around and walked off."
That was the day Weigel bought in to the direct supervision concept once and for all, he says.
"From that day forward, I do not hesitate to climb on a soapbox and and expound the virtues of direct supervision. I can't even imagine running a jail without the direct supervision concept."
Sgt. Mark Stevens says Tulsa County detention officers get the best training in the country, a necessity to make the system work.
"We put'em in a cell with 90 inmates, and we tell'em 'you're in charge,' and they supervise those inmates for eight hours a day, five days a week."
And the training turns out great employees for any business, he says.
"When they come out of there, think about what kind of supervisor they could be for any place."
He's traveled as far as Abu Dhabi to teach the system, which he also teaches to agencies throughout the United States.
Sgt. Stevens had also doubted if direct supervision could work, now he also sings its praises.
For those who want more proof, consider what Chief Weigel said about all the overcrowding and budetary problems the jail has undergone in recent months.
"We've not had one problem at all," he said. "The inmates are all working together with the staff to make that as safe a possible stay for everyone. Without direct supervision, I'm gonna tell you that would not happen."