Make ‘Em Work! They Do

CREST HAVEN – How many times has it been said, “Inmates have it too easy. All they do is watch TV and lift weights all day?” Cape May County Sheriff Gary Schaffer’s 2012 annual report to freeholders, made Feb. 12, takes some of the steam from that idea.
Last year the SLAP, or alternative to incarceration program, did not sit around much. According to Schaffer, there were 177 SLAP (Sheriff’s Labor Assistance Program) inmates. There were 88 who completed the program, 44 were removed and 36 remained at year end.
They performed 2,778 seven-hour work days, brought in $10,120 in fees, saved $287,412 in salary and saved $247,242 in “incarceration costs.”
Those persons worked 2,778 work days. Of those, 883 were at Crest Haven, 193 at the Veterans Cemetery, 112 at St. Mary’s Cemetery (Cold Spring), 563 at the County Park and Zoo, 810 in the Animal Shelter, 180 jail workers, 29 other, and eight in the county Road Department.
Another Alternative to Incarceration is Electronic Monitoring Program (EMP).
Fees collected to participate were $25,829, there were 49 inmates, 36 new admissions, and 39 completed the program. Eight were removed. Participants served a total 2,543 inmate days on the program which saved the county $226,327 in incarceration costs.
Schaffer told the board by use of the program over $400,000 was saved on medical expenses with one inmate who was in the hospital or nursing homes for one full year.
Juveniles, too, have an alternative to incarceration program. There were 17 new admissions, 13 completed the program and one was removed.
There were a total 720 detention beds saved utilizing the program. That translated into $198,000 saved from incarcerations and fees collected of $4,467.
In sum, the three alternative programs to incarceration saved the county $999,397, Schaffer reported.