# 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:** 2
**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 11, 2011, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inmates-could-staff-fire-stations-in-georgia-town/599225/21 "2011-10-11T00:00:49Z")
> [@Frank](#): > > It’s not merely legal, it’s explicitly constitutional. Exactly. 😕 ---
**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 11, 2011, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inmates-could-staff-fire-stations-in-georgia-town/599225/22 "2011-10-11T00:02:00Z")
> [@drewtwo99](#): > > And I wouldn’t want a Coke head ID thief rescuing me from a fire, no matter how “honest” of a guy he was. To be fair, he was never a coke head. He was in a car with someone who had it in his vehicle. But I also grew up with the guy (not to mention my dad is an ex-con) and I can tell you, you would’ve been safe. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2011, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inmates-could-staff-fire-stations-in-georgia-town/599225/23 "2011-10-11T00:02:07Z")
> [@drewtwo99](#): > > And I wouldn’t want a Coke head ID thief rescuing me from a fire, no matter how “honest” of a guy he was. I think I’d probably let him rescue me, though I might draw a line when he took some time to look around for my wallet. ---
**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 11, 2011, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inmates-could-staff-fire-stations-in-georgia-town/599225/24 "2011-10-11T00:03:35Z")
This is precisely why this program could be a good thing. Like I said, if you want people to re-enter into society and be productive, they will need to build relationships and have jobs. Giving them the opportunity to do a public service may help with that. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2011, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inmates-could-staff-fire-stations-in-georgia-town/599225/25 "2011-10-11T00:07:40Z")
I think this is a great idea, actually. And they could also have inmates work in hospitals. I hear [Michael Swango](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Swango) is available. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2011, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inmates-could-staff-fire-stations-in-georgia-town/599225/26 "2011-10-11T00:23:38Z")
> [@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. Forest fires require lots of hard manual work in making firebreaks and the like. That works well for inmates. I believe that other types of firefighting require somewhat more in skill - EMT work also, as you said. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2011, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inmates-could-staff-fire-stations-in-georgia-town/599225/27 "2011-10-11T00:25:00Z")
> [@Jack\_Batty](#): > > 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. Didn’t you get the memo? Government never, ever creates jobs. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2011, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inmates-could-staff-fire-stations-in-georgia-town/599225/28 "2011-10-11T00:29:49Z")
> [@drewtwo99](#): > > 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. Damn right. Think of how well behaved the brats in 6th grade would be if you put a convicted child molester in charge of the class. Give the getaway drivers buses, and you’ll get passengers to their stops much faster without having to worry about being delayed by those pesky red lights. ---
**Author:** ![HellsBreezeway](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b4bc9f/32.png) [@HellsBreezeway](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HellsBreezeway)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2011, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inmates-could-staff-fire-stations-in-georgia-town/599225/29 "2011-10-11T00:42:11Z")
The [Dude Fire](http://www.paysonroundup.com/news/2010/jul/09/dude-fire-revealed-monster-still-stalks-rim-countr/) of 1990 killed 6 members of the Perryville inmate crew in central Arizona. They take the same risk as everyone else and deserve the same respect. More importantly to society–I’ve had the privilege of working with about 5 ex-cons who used their time on an inmate fire crew as a chance to turn their life completely around. They leave prison with a skill and–I hesitate to overstep here–I think with some self-respect from doing tough job well. Could inmates in city fire departments be a different story? Yeah, it could. There’s more public contact and more chance for trouble. But in my experience of wildland firefighting I was always, always impressed by the inmate crew members I met. ---
**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 11, 2011, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inmates-could-staff-fire-stations-in-georgia-town/599225/30 "2011-10-11T00:44:43Z")
Somebody also has to all the grunt work. Every call that uses equipment from an engine puts that engine out of service until it has been restocked, fire or medical. After a fire there is hose to clean and dry, chainsaws to work on, pumps to go through, tools to clean and sharpen. There are many departments that use a combination of trained firefighters and volunteers to get everything done. At a medical call, maybe all the volunteer does is direct traffic, somebody has to direct traffic, that’s a job a con could do, saves the trained firefighters for actually dealing with the emergency. ---
**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 11, 2011, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inmates-could-staff-fire-stations-in-georgia-town/599225/31 "2011-10-11T00:48:07Z")
> [@CitizenPained](#): > > This is precisely why this program could be a good thing. Like I said, if you want people to re-enter into society and be productive, they will need to build relationships and have jobs. Giving them the opportunity to do a public service may help with that. Do you think the people behind this idea are doing it for that reason? Similarly, when a CEO moves his company’s call center to Bangalore, is he doing it out of concern for the unemployed in India? ---
**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, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inmates-could-staff-fire-stations-in-georgia-town/599225/32 "2011-10-11T00:52:24Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > Damn right. Think of how well behaved the brats in 6th grade would be if you put a convicted child molester in charge of the class. Give the getaway drivers buses, and you’ll get passengers to their stops much faster without having to worry about being delayed by those pesky red lights. And why stop at the state level? Federal government could save millions this way! Imagine how much fun it would be if the IRS Auditor who came to check over your taxes was a convicted murderer! Or what if politicians were prostitution Johns? ---
**Author:** ![MOIDALIZE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@MOIDALIZE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MOIDALIZE)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2011, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inmates-could-staff-fire-stations-in-georgia-town/599225/33 "2011-10-11T01:13:44Z")
What if your parole officer…was on parole?! And HIS parole officer was on parole? And HIS parole officer, and HIS parole officer, and HIS parole officer… ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2011, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inmates-could-staff-fire-stations-in-georgia-town/599225/34 "2011-10-11T01:17:10Z")
> [@SnakesCatLady](#): > > 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? Win-Win. They’re _technically_ volunteers, so if they die, they die. Saves the state the cost of their incarceration. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Lobohan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobohan/32/79_2.png) [@Lobohan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobohan)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2011, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inmates-could-staff-fire-stations-in-georgia-town/599225/35 "2011-10-11T01:23:26Z")
> [@MOIDALIZE](#): > > What if your parole officer…was on parole?! And HIS parole officer was on parole? And HIS parole officer, and HIS parole officer, and HIS parole officer… You’re on to something. Prisoner prison guards! ---
**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, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inmates-could-staff-fire-stations-in-georgia-town/599225/36 "2011-10-11T01:37:51Z")
> [@Lobohan](#): > > You’re on to something. > > Prisoner prison guards! Wow… how did I not see this one first??? This would save so much money… why just a few hours ago I saw another Doper complaining about how much money prison guards make! If we replace them with volunteer inmates… What about wardens too? ---
**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 11, 2011, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inmates-could-staff-fire-stations-in-georgia-town/599225/37 "2011-10-11T01:43:37Z")
Guard duty paid better, like $0.55 an hour compared to $0.35 for firefighters. We used to lose some of our better firefighters to the guards every once in a while. Especially when our criminal justice system likes to fine people while taking away their ability to pay. Garnishments for child support, court costs, tickets and fines, lawyer fees; guard duty was a lot better for a guy in that situation. We could only offer overtime, a chance to get out for part of a day, and a chance to eat something other than prison food as our benefit package. ---
**Author:** ![Mom-of-Andrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8c91f0/32.png) [@Mom-of-Andrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mom-of-Andrew)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2011, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inmates-could-staff-fire-stations-in-georgia-town/599225/38 "2011-10-11T02:20:09Z")
> [@Lobohan](#): > > You’re on to something. > > Prisoner prison guards! > [@sitchensis](#): > > Guard duty paid better, \ We used to lose some of our better firefighters to the guards every once in a while. Thus proving no matter how insane an idea seems-- some bureaucracy, somewhere, has already tried it. ---
**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 11, 2011, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inmates-could-staff-fire-stations-in-georgia-town/599225/39 "2011-10-11T02:25:15Z")
> [@Lobohan](#): > > You’re on to something. > > Prisoner prison guards! I don’t know if that would work. With all the inmates out fighting fires and teaching school, there wouldn’t be anyone left to guard. ---
**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 11, 2011, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inmates-could-staff-fire-stations-in-georgia-town/599225/40 "2011-10-11T02:35:43Z")
> [@Mom-of-Andrew](#): > > Thus proving no matter how insane an idea seems-- some bureaucracy, somewhere, has already tried it. Thus proving no matter how insane an [del]idea[/del] newspaper headline seems-- some [del]bureaucracy, somewhere[/del] person who has actual knowledge about the subject, has [del]already tried it.[/del] been using it for years. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inmates-could-staff-fire-stations-in-georgia-town/599225.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inmates-could-staff-fire-stations-in-georgia-town/599225.md?page=3)