West Virginia bringing prisoner work gangs back to work on the roads.

   / West Virginia bringing prisoner work gangs back to work on the roads. #1  

WVaHillbilly

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I thought this was an interesting story and in my opinion long overdue.

Hur Herald
 
   / West Virginia bringing prisoner work gangs back to work on the roads. #2  
Works for me!
 
   / West Virginia bringing prisoner work gangs back to work on the roads. #3  
One of the Dallas County Commissioners asked this past week to be allowed to start using trustees from the county jail on county road projects. I guess it's being considered more and more places.
 
   / West Virginia bringing prisoner work gangs back to work on the roads. #4  
Western NC has them out on the interstates all the time. I don't see them on the state or secondary roads, mainly the interstates. The crews are large (8-20 men) and have two armed guards. They park a bus with a porty potty hooked to the back along the road. The crew then walks and cleans up about 2 miles of road and then works their way back to the bus on the other side of the road. No one prisoner seems to be doing extensive work, but as a crew they get a lot done.

The highways in this area stay spotless as a result. Some days I have seen multiple buses and crews in a 15 mile stretch of road.

The stereotype of a chain gang breaking rocks is outdated and useless. Roadside clean up crews are a good use of inmate time.
 
   / West Virginia bringing prisoner work gangs back to work on the roads. #5  
Hamilton County OH has been doing somehting similar for some time to my understanding....program is voluntary, volunteers have to be in for non-violent crime, and they get something like 2 days served for each day worked. Primary focus seems to be picking up trash on roadsides and in parks.
 
   / West Virginia bringing prisoner work gangs back to work on the roads. #6  
My dad said when he was young he remembered jail prisoners working on the brick streets. They would tear out a course of bricks, level the bed underneath, rotate the bricks to a good side up and put them back. The streets were always in good shape... until.... people started complaining that the prisoners were taking away good paying jobs from people that work on roads for a living. Never mind that the good money comes out of our pockets as taxes. :rolleyes:

There are still many brick streets here that haven't been worked on in the last 40 years that still seem to be standing up to the test of time. Most better than the asphalt roads put down by those folks with the good paying jobs. ;)

Across the border in Michigan they have prisoners working in the county park on weekday mornings before it opens to the public. There are usually a few guards. The prisoners are in orange jumpsuits. I think you can tell which ones are at what level of trustworthyness by a few things like:

Some prisoners have chaps, hard hat and a chainsaw and good boots. Some have an axe, loppers, sledge hammer and good boots. Those folks worked unsupervised. Some have a shovel and wheelbarrow and tennis shoes, but have to stay around the guards. Some have a rake, but no shoe strings in their shoes. Presumably so they can't run too fast or harm themselves. But the last prisoner is the one that impressed me most. He has handcuffs chained to a chain around his waiste. He has leg shackles on and bedroom slippers. His ankles are chained together with just enough slack to shuffle along, but he still has a little grippy tool with rubber fingers and a five gallon bucket so he can at least pick up trash. I enjoyed seeing that. :)
 
   / West Virginia bringing prisoner work gangs back to work on the roads. #7  
Some sheriffs here have complained that mandatory work crews will require them to hire additonal deputies, for which they do not have funds.

I also wonder if prisoners picking up trash will really help with the trash situation. It is flat awful here, and I am afraid that prison work crews encourage people to throw trash out the window, thinking it will be picked up anyway.

Don't get me wrong, I am all for putting criminals to work. I just wonder if it isn't counter productive in some cases.
 
   / West Virginia bringing prisoner work gangs back to work on the roads. #9  
SnowRidge said:
Some sheriffs here have complained that mandatory work crews will require them to hire additonal deputies, for which they do not have funds.

I also wonder if prisoners picking up trash will really help with the trash situation. It is flat awful here, and I am afraid that prison work crews encourage people to throw trash out the window, thinking it will be picked up anyway.

Don't get me wrong, I am all for putting criminals to work. I just wonder if it isn't counter productive in some cases.

:) I think trashing up the country side is a cultural thing here. Was at Krystal Sunday noon and watched a guy pull away from the drive thru and proceed to dump all his trash (cup top, bag etc) right there in the parking lot!!! I dont believe prisoners picking up trash or not will make any diff to those accustom to using the great outdoors as their personal trash can.
 
   / West Virginia bringing prisoner work gangs back to work on the roads. #10  
jimg said:
:) I think trashing up the country side is a cultural thing here. Was at Krystal Sunday noon and watched a guy pull away from the drive thru and proceed to dump all his trash (cup top, bag etc) right there in the parking lot!!! I dont believe prisoners picking up trash or not will make any diff to those accustom to using the great outdoors as their personal trash can.
Yeah, it is real bad, especially on the county roads. I have yet to see a county crew out cleaning up in my area. I do see state crews from time to time on the state highways, but they get more traffic and can get real bad between the infrequent clean ups.

The Interstates aren't too bad, though.
 
 
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