So Georgia is coming up with still new ways to replace old, paid workers with new, unpaid workers - namely prisoners.
Last time it was migrant/illegal farmworkers they tried to replace - this time it's firefighters.
Yep, that's right, firefighters. You know - those guys who enter your burning house in the middle of the night when it's on fire, the ones who rescue grandma from the burning bedroom, the ones who wiggle down the abandoned mine shaft and spend a couple hours alone in the dark with your three year old daughter after she fell down and got stuck, the ones who climb the big old apple tree in your backyard and rescue your beloved siamese cat. (Never mind, of course, that many of them are in jail for stealing grandma's jewelry from that same bedroom, some of them previously molested someone else's Baby Susie in a dark place and virtually all of them tortured someone's beloved siamese back in their childhood days.)
Of course, these guys will have to meet a certain standard, of course -
Committed only low-level crimes, such as drug offenses and thefts;
- Have a record of good behavior;
- Pass an interview process;
- Agree to not use cell phones, have visitors, or leave the station unless responding to an emergency
Still a bit different than the extensive background (credit check, morals check, family check, neighborhood check, background check, previous employer check, etc.) investigation that every other firefighter undergoes before being hired.
Not only that - they are expecting the uncriminal firefighters to "guard" them in addition to being the firefighters and medics they already are. They are going to "train" them, however, to be prison guards without walls.
I don't know about anyone else, but generally when you're inside of a burning building you've pretty much already got your hands full with a hose, an axe, a radio, and staying alive. Your eyes (when not already totally blinded by smoke) are pretty occupied with scanning the 8 inches you can still see in front of you for bodies, living or dead, holes in the roof, holes in the floor, sharp objects and the random house pet....how you're expected to keep track of your assigned prisoner, I really don't know.
And when your prisoner decides it's too hot (as the prisoners who worked the lettuce fields did) and throws down the nozzle and takes off - what do you do? Do you move up a point and pick up the nozzle and continue trying to save grandma's life or do you chase after your prisoner?
But hey - if it works maybe they can eventually replace the police department and the public school teachers with prisoners, too. Think of the money they'd save!
Read more at Jacksonville.com:
Camden County considering inmate firefighter program | jacksonville.com
House on Fire? Call a Criminal!!
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