State proposing putting violent offenders on inmate firefighting crews

[Wrightwood]

[SkierBob]

and the idea is generating concerns about public safety.

I've always thought some firemen were just a conviction away from having the same criminal status.   

joking aside I think it's a bad move and a huge risk to public safety. 

[tcaarabians]

Yeah.. funny joke SkierBob.

For me, this piece was a good bit short of useful information. The salient line for me was (in the AP story) about hundreds of various crimes committed by those non-violent offenders that were already used on the firelines. There were no stats that followed that.

The proposal is to add a higher level of offenders to the mix to build up those on the ground fighting fires. Evidently, for the purpose of building up cheap labor on the fire lines. There has to be a better solution to this than a budget consideration.  It really shouldn't be:  You commit a violent crime.. you go down for a bit of time.. you go dig out on a fireline and you get released early and earn more money.  Nope, I agree with SkierBob .. tho he was a lot briefer than I. cheryl o7o

[Forester]

I think it is a great idea, we have a huge number of incarcerated criminals, we should use them more in productive ways. Our tax dollars go to the upkeep of inmates and they should be used to give back to society. The prison system is a multi-billion dollar industry and the justice system has become a systemic tool to ensure there is a constant influx of inmates.

[Nolena]

It sounds like a nightmare for the supervising fire captain.
I've supervised inmate firefighting crews, and it's difficult with the consistency of the crews as they are now.
I think that this would also be a danger to the other inmates on the crews.
 

[Big Pines]

Don't agree with it at all.  Keep them locked up.  We have plenty of people looking for work with no criminal record they should hire instead.

[AvocadoFlyer]

Maybe offering the homeless folks an opportunity to acquire a skill and get themselves back on their feet would be a better fit for the fire fighting crews than inmates. 

[tcaarabians]

It seems to me that the need for extra crews on the fire lines is determined by the immediacy of the event.  As in "We need more guys and we need them now."
It also seems to me that there is no budget for 'standby' crews.  I dunno.. maybe something like the National Guard where a person can be called up. Maybe the National Guard could be trained for this service as well. 

As lovely as the thought of hiring homeless folks is.. well they are homeless and you can't get in touch with them very easily. And,  a good number of those dear folks need mental health services. Just for being homeless if nothing else like drug addictions. They aren't exactly the kind of people you want in such a dangerous situation.  Just weeding them out can be costly.

And, I guess some folks out of work could sign up to be called if needed. But, that seems quite unworkable to me as well.

This current proposal is "evidently" to use felons convicted of violent crimes to build up the possible recruiting base for fire line work. I get the fact that they are available and cheap labor.  And,  I get that CA has a need for more 'fire line personnel.'   I also think that their tendencies towards violence can create a lot more problems. You know.. why don't we just bring in elephants?

Given our situation here in CA and the entire region of the west during this drought. .. we need a budget for standby crews that can be called up and are trained.  I'd like to think that part of my "fire fee' would go towards that objective. And, it has not escaped me that this proposal had that objective from the beginning.  cheryl o7o

 

[SkierBob]

I doubt they were planning on paying felons as much as they pay someone who is actually employable.  I do agree though, keep them locked up.

[Nolena]

"I've always thought some firemen were just a conviction away from having the same criminal status."

Many people do not realize how highly trained the fire crew captains are who supervise inmate firefighting crews.
I went through a state firefighting academy, and then a 2 year apprenticeship program, while working as a supervisor in a fire station. After a few years there, I became a fire crew captain, supervising state inmates fighting fires and doing projects such as Camp Fenner does repairing our Village Trail and shoveling out our fire hydrants when it snows.
I was sent to another state academy for fire crew captains, in order to do that level of specialty fire service.
I've never been arrested, and I have a few college degrees, but I was often treated as if I was one of the inmates when I was a crew supervisor.
Go figure.