An inmate trash pickup detail.
The Dade County Sheriff's Office inmate labor program sends inmates to different job sites throughout Dade county and the Trenton city limits to do various kinds of chores for local government and civic organizations.
In addition, the Sheriff's office also sends inmates on trash pickup details to clear the county roadsides of litter throughout the year. Citizens can call in if they see a particular road in need of cleaning due to trash or dangerous debris. At the end of each day, the trash collected is taken to the transfer station and weighed. Year-to-date totals have now reached 43,700 pounds of trash successfully removed from Dade roadways.
Sheriff Ray Cross stated that the program is essential not only to provide labor skills to the inmates who do various jobs, but in that it also helps to keep the roadways cleaner and more attractive for everyone to enjoy.
Editor's Note: Indeed, jail trusties perform so many functions around the county that The Planet has often speculated Dade would grind to a halt should its incarcerated population decline. Here, a propos of nothing, are some Planet photos of the Men in Yellow helping out here and there, some previously published, some not.
Trusties with buckets of water help Trenton Tree City's Eloise Gass plant pansies during the worst days of this year's drought...
Bring in ballot boxes from the precincts on Election Day ...
Decorate the Trenton town square for Christmas ...
and put up a temporary structure for an outdoor festival.
When The Planet asked the trusties depicted at top, with Eloise Gass, for help watering the pansies, they said they had to get permission, or else "we'll get in trouble." "Looks like you're already in trouble," pointed out The Planet. "Worse trouble," they said.
The Planet's conclusion: If it weren't for trusty labor, Dade County might be in some trouble, too!
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