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| Inmates help clean up destruction caused by Hurricane Charley |
| By News Chief |
| Published: 08/17/2004 |
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Local residents and emergency workers aren't going to have to do all the cleaning up after Hurricane Charley. The Polk County (Fla.) Sheriff's Office is putting at least 50 inmates to work in communities hardest hit by the storm, Col. Grady Judd said Monday. The prisoners started Monday morning by helping move emergency water supplies, Judd said, but the sheriff's office may increase the number of trustees out doing recovery work. But that all depends on whether they are a flight risk or danger to the community, Judd said. "We think that's appropriate," Judd said. "We think prisoners need to repay their debt to society, and I can't think of a more appropriate way than to help clean up the devastation." Judd told county commissioners of the plan at a special briefing Monday morning. "I'd like to think a majority of them are happy to do that," Commission Chairman Neil Combee remarked. After helping move water supplies, Judd explained, the inmates from the county jail will likely move on to help senior citizen communities clear out their yards. Those residents can't do it themselves, he said. The inmates will likely work for several weeks as Polk cleans up the debris. He said a certain number of inmates are needed to do work at the jails in Bartow and Frostproof - which is housing hundreds of inmates - and not all prisoners can be let out into the public, even when watched by a deputy. But Judd said the sheriff's office is going to use the free labor as much as possible to assist in clean up efforts. |
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