# Inmates Could Staff Fire Stations In Georgia Town **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 10, 2011, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inmates-could-staff-fire-stations-in-georgia-town/599225 "2011-10-10T21:29:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2011, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inmates-could-staff-fire-stations-in-georgia-town/599225/1 "2011-10-10T21:29:53Z")
[Inmates Could Staff Fire Stations In St. Marys, Ga.](http://www.aol.com/2011/10/10/inmates-fire-stations_n_1003223.html?test=latestnews) > [@](#): > > Officials in southeast Georgia are considering a money-saving program that would put inmates in fire stations. > > Officials say the inmates would respond to all emergencies - including residential fires - alongside traditional firefighters. > > The inmates would have no guard, but would be monitored by a surveillance system and by the traditional firefighters, who would undergo training to guard the inmates. Authorities say one traditional firefighter with correctional training can supervise up to three inmates. > > Authorities say the inmate firefighter program could save the county more than $500,000 a year by some estimates. Inmates charged with crimes such as drug offenses and thefts would be eligible. This such a terrible idea. For starters, do you really want your fireman splitting his attention between the children in your burning house, and where the drug gang he is responsible for has gotten off to? Do you really want someone convicted of theft searching through your house? I’m sure any objections from the firemen towards being drafted as prison guards will be painted as some sort of union slackery. Stupid, stupid, stoo-pid. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2011, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inmates-could-staff-fire-stations-in-georgia-town/599225/2 "2011-10-10T21:56:42Z")
Ah, the righteous crusade continues to reform the essential functions of government by eliminating those useless layabouts who take money from the government and contribute nothing; firefighters. Just one question, what incentive does an inmate have to not just stand there and watch a house burn? ---
**Author:** ![Omegaman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e480ec/32.png) [@Omegaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omegaman)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2011, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inmates-could-staff-fire-stations-in-georgia-town/599225/3 "2011-10-10T22:14:39Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > Ah, the righteous crusade continues to reform the essential functions of government by eliminating those useless layabouts who take money from the government and contribute nothing; firefighters. > > Just one question, what incentive does an inmate have to not just stand there and watch a house burn? AK-47? ---
**Author:** ![sitchensis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sitchensis/32/4892_2.png) [@sitchensis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sitchensis)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2011, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inmates-could-staff-fire-stations-in-georgia-town/599225/4 "2011-10-10T22:17:07Z")
Inmate crews are already used for wildland fire incidents. They work their asses off for very little money and just the chance to get outside and be proud of a hard days work. Obviously you would still need trained firefighters for medical calls, and medical calls make up the largest percentage of calls firefighters get, so their usefulness would be limited. But I would rather have a 45 year old, blue collar, semi-literate mechanic with an alcohol problem doing my routine pump maintenance than a 17 year old “volunteer”. ---
**Author:** ![sitchensis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sitchensis/32/4892_2.png) [@sitchensis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sitchensis)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2011, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inmates-could-staff-fire-stations-in-georgia-town/599225/5 "2011-10-10T22:23:53Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > Just one question, what incentive does an inmate have to not just stand there and watch a house burn? For the most part they don’t need additional incentive; just point them in the right direction. The main problem you usually have is too much enthusiasm without much forethought. (Probably the same thing that got them in trouble in the first place) ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2011, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inmates-could-staff-fire-stations-in-georgia-town/599225/6 "2011-10-10T22:54:27Z")
> [@sitchensis](#): > > Inmate crews are already used for wildland fire incidents. They work their asses off for very little money and just the chance to get outside and be proud of a hard days work. I’m sure the politicians who proposed this would be happy to make the same deal; not much pay, but the satisfaction of a job well done. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2011, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inmates-could-staff-fire-stations-in-georgia-town/599225/7 "2011-10-10T22:55:02Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > I’m sure the politicians who proposed this would be happy to make the same deal; not much pay, but the satisfaction of a job well done. And no pension. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2011, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inmates-could-staff-fire-stations-in-georgia-town/599225/8 "2011-10-10T23:07:46Z")
Is it just me, or do these sound like jobs? You know like the kind that people are looking for? The kind we apparently need to lower taxes on millionaires for so the Job Creators[sup]TM[/sup] can do their thing? Have virtual slave labor do them, or pay unconvicted, if not innocent, people needing jobs to do them? But, of course, that would be bad because the government would be funding it. ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2011, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inmates-could-staff-fire-stations-in-georgia-town/599225/9 "2011-10-10T23:23:12Z")
Why pay these guys anything at all? Just call it “recreation time” and make it completely voluntary. Fuck trained fire fighters sucking off the public teet. The only problem I see with this plan is that they are limiting it to fire fighters. Why not teachers, nurses, bus drivers, etc? Just slap electronic monitoring on them and let them do their thing. ---
**Author:** ![PSXer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/48db29/32.png) [@PSXer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PSXer)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2011, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inmates-could-staff-fire-stations-in-georgia-town/599225/10 "2011-10-10T23:39:09Z")
what incentive do volunteer firemen have not to just stand there and watch the house burn? ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2011, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inmates-could-staff-fire-stations-in-georgia-town/599225/11 "2011-10-10T23:40:55Z")
> [@PSXer](#): > > what incentive do volunteer firemen have not to just stand there and watch the house burn? They’re volunteers? ---
**Author:** ![SnakesCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4af34b/32.png) [@SnakesCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SnakesCatLady)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2011, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inmates-could-staff-fire-stations-in-georgia-town/599225/12 "2011-10-10T23:42:22Z")
Aside from the 100s of other problems I can see with this idea…did whoever dreamed this one up realize that firefighters do sometimes get KILLED in the line of duty? Can you even begin to imagine the lawsuits that would spring up if an inmate was killed fighting a fire/ Not to mention that firefighters require, ya know, training. Which is work. Which is something a lot of thiefs want to avoid, which is why they are in jail. I just do not see this as a good idea. I’d have no problem with inmate labor being used for unskilled labor such a picking crops. However, I can’t see a firefighter having a lot of confidence in the guy at his back if it’s a convict. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2011, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inmates-could-staff-fire-stations-in-georgia-town/599225/13 "2011-10-10T23:45:09Z")
I could see this as a career-building opportunity for the inmates, if convicted criminals are allowed to be hired as firemen in Georgia. Are they? Otherwise, I can only see it as a really stupid, stupid, stupid idea. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2011, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inmates-could-staff-fire-stations-in-georgia-town/599225/14 "2011-10-10T23:55:02Z")
> [@Frank](#): > > I could see this as a career-building opportunity for the inmates, if convicted criminals are allowed to be hired as firemen in Georgia. Are they? Oh sure, the inmates will be experienced firefighters when they’re released, but what good will that do them? Those jobs will be going to current inmates. ---
**Author:** ![Farmer\_Jane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Farmer\_Jane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Farmer_Jane)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2011, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inmates-could-staff-fire-stations-in-georgia-town/599225/15 "2011-10-10T23:55:53Z")
Where my dad was, they had inmates at the VA hospital. He calls Leavenworth his ‘college years’. I think it’s good to be useful. Being in the position where you can help saves lives (literally or figuratively) may be a really good thing. I assume they have a hefty screening process. My issue is that slave labor/indentured servitude is legal in the US. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2011, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inmates-could-staff-fire-stations-in-georgia-town/599225/16 "2011-10-10T23:56:12Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > Oh sure, the inmates will be experienced firefighters when they’re released, but what good will that do them? Those jobs will be going to current inmates. Good point. Perhaps I didn’t think that all the way through. ---
**Author:** ![Farmer\_Jane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Farmer\_Jane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Farmer_Jane)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2011, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inmates-could-staff-fire-stations-in-georgia-town/599225/17 "2011-10-10T23:57:43Z")
> [@SnakesCatLady](#): > > I’d have no problem with inmate labor being used for unskilled labor such a picking crops. However, I can’t see a firefighter having a lot of confidence in the guy at his back if it’s a convict. Cons aren’t always violent criminals. I have a friend that was in prison for a combo of having cocaine on him and identity theft. Surprisingly, he’s very polite, responsible, and otherwise honest. And a scholar. Wouldn’t want a kiddie-banger in the firehouse, though. \>shudder\< ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2011, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inmates-could-staff-fire-stations-in-georgia-town/599225/18 "2011-10-10T23:58:43Z")
> [@CitizenPained](#): > > My issue is that slave labor/indentured servitude is legal in the US. It’s not merely legal, it’s explicitly constitutional. ---
**Author:** ![Farmer\_Jane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Farmer\_Jane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Farmer_Jane)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2011, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inmates-could-staff-fire-stations-in-georgia-town/599225/19 "2011-10-10T23:59:22Z")
> [@Frank](#): > > Good point. Perhaps I didn’t think that all the way through. Still, if I were hiring someone and found they were an ex con and they said ‘I was a firefighter’ versus ‘I did the dishes’, that would be helpful. ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2011, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inmates-could-staff-fire-stations-in-georgia-town/599225/20 "2011-10-11T00:00:09Z")
> [@CitizenPained](#): > > Cons aren’t always violent criminals. I have a friend that was in prison for a combo of having cocaine on him and identity theft. Surprisingly, he’s very polite, responsible, and otherwise honest. And a scholar. > > Wouldn’t want a kiddie-banger in the firehouse, though. \>shudder\< And I wouldn’t want a Coke head ID thief rescuing me from a fire, no matter how “honest” of a guy he was. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inmates-could-staff-fire-stations-in-georgia-town/599225.md?page=2)