Those who don't frequent the sidewalks along West 22nd Street and the Merced County Calif. Jail probably haven't gotten an eyeful of the chain gangs of prisoners who pass back and forth - and back and forth - all day long.
Most of those who do frequent those sidewalks have seen enough to last a lifetime.
One of those people is Merced County Superior Court Presiding Judge Frank Dougherty, who wants to put an end to that shuffling parade of chain-linked prisoners once and for all.
"It's reasonable to conclude that, when we march those in-custody inmates down public streets and public sidewalks, it poses a threat ... to public safety," he said at a gathering of attorneys and law officials last Thursday night. When inmates walk at a slow shuffle down the street, their hands are chained to their waists and their waists chained to each other.
Their feet are also locked to together - which makes for the chain gang shuffle.
That means that gang members, who wear color-coded prison uniforms that mark their gang affiliations, are easy targets for passersby who might want to fire shots at them - and pedestrians - from cars.
With the help of Sheriff's Sgt. Jim Pacheco, Dougherty compiled information on the numbers of inmates who passed from court to jail and back last July.
On average, he said, 73 inmates per day were marched up and down the sidewalk. The average traffic on a typical Monday was 98 prisoners.
To solve the problem, Dougherty proposes that Department 4 - a courtroom set far off of West 22nd Street, and behind the jail - be used for all in-custody arraignments and bail reviews. If a preliminary hearing is necessary, the individual defendant would be taken to Departments 5 or 7.
Because inmates would be marched between Department 4 and the jail, the department would act as the central spot for fast-paced court proceedings.
To pick up the pace of court proceedings, Dougherty plans to change the way cases are filed and to implement a written form for entering pleas - another move that would reduce chain gang foot traffic.
His new plans also include making room in Department 4 so that attorneys would be provided privacy to speak with clients, and installing a chain link fence at one of the department's doorways to ensure that the increased inmate traffic near the building would not pose threats to its inhabitants.
There isn't a scheduled start date for the new changes, but Dougherty will meet with officials again next week.