Cleaned up on the cheap
By Sean Murphy/ Daily News Staff
Wednesday, December 28, 2005 - Updated: 01:08 AM EST
WESTWOOD -- The Westwood Police Department is getting a new coat of paint, but the real news is the cost-cutting method the department has come up with to get the job done.
Police Chief William Chase said five inmates and two supervisors from the Dedham House of Correction are helping out. The inmates will take about a month to finish the job, and it will save the department a bundle.
"The labor is really the huge cost," Chase said.
To use a contractor, Chase said, would cost $15,000 to $20,000, but with the inmates, all the department has to pay for is the cost of the paint, which amounts to less than $1,000.
"That’s a significant savings," the chief said.
Norfolk County Sheriff Michael Belotti said the low-level offenders are serving minor sentences at a minimum security facility adjacent to the jail, and are low-risk, nonviolent inmates. Belotti said the work is part of a program the jail sponsors to keep inmates active and prepare them for re-entry into the world.
"It gives the offenders something to do (in the community)," Belotti said.
Participating inmates are rewarded with a reduction in sentence, by days, weeks, or even months depending on how much work they do. In a given day, Belotti said, the county has four crews like the one at the police station working on various projects in the area.
Chase called the situation a "win-win" for Westwood and the Sheriff’s Department.
"They’re keeping their inmates actively involved in things," Chase said.
Somehow I don't think I'd want a con working in my station.....
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