Atkinson opts out of prison trustee program for free labor

From the Eagle Tribune;

December 1, 2011
Atkinson opts out of prison trustee program for free labor
By Cara Hogan
chogan@eagletribune.com

ATKINSON — For the past nine years, a Rockingham County jail inmate cleaned the police station three days every week — at almost no cost to the town

But selectmen thought otherwise, voting to end the program and citing the cost of transporting the inmate from Brentwood to Atkinson and back.

The board voted Monday not to reapprove the police trustee program, which employed a minimum security prisoner for landscaping and cleaning.

Selectman Craig Schuster said the cost of the program seemed to outweigh the benefits.

"It was $10 a day for this person, which included a meal," he said. "But the chief did not understand the full cost. We were using a town officer to drive the trustee back and forth to jail, paying them $24 an hour. The real cost was well over $60 a day, compared to our current cleaning service which is $45."

The town employs a cleaning company for all other town buildings, Schuster said. The cost of adding the police station to that list would be $45 a day, he said.

But police Chief Philip Consentino said he worked out a plan to have Plaistow officers pick up two trustees in the morning and have an Atkinson officer bring them both back at night.

"They're saying it's too expensive and there were too many hidden costs," Consentino said. "But there would be no overtime involved."

Armed with information, Schuster said, he decided the program could be worth the money.

"I made a motion to approve it, but I did not get a second," he said.

Selectman William Friel was not present at the meeting and Selectman Fred Childs did not support the motion, so it didn't pass.

Now, Consentino said he will have to hire someone to do the work the trustee did three days a week.

"He cleans the station from one end to the other, empties the trash, cleans all the cruisers, rakes leaves, cuts grass and whatever we need," he said. "With one trustee, I got three rooms in the police department painted and all it cost me was a gallon of paint for each room."

There is a reason so many other towns also use the trustee program, the chief said.

Ask Kingston police Chief Donald Briggs.

Briggs said he has a trustee on staff full time. Sometimes, Briggs said, the trustee works on special projects on weekends.

"They have rebuilt the whole upstairs of the fire station, the town bandstand, painted the entire inside of the library," Briggs said. "The program saves thousands and thousands of dollars every year."

Jail superintendant Stephen Church said 10 local communities use the program, including Atkinson, Kingston, Plaistow, Sandown and Hampstead.

"It saves the municipalities an awful lot of money," Church said. "It's a very popular program."

Only a small number of prisoners, those without a record of sex offenses or violent crimes, participate.

"The benefit for the prisoners is they get to be away from the jail and interact with people other than fellow prisoners," Church said. "They generally get fed better which is a big deal. It's a highly sought after job and only very few are selected."

Hampstead police Lt. John Frazier said he was surprised Atkinson would cut the program.

"Not cost effective?" he said. "It's free labor."

A part-time, retired Hampstead officer supervises the trustee, who comes in on Tuesday and Thursdays to clean the fleet of police cars. It has worked out well, Frazier said.

Plaistow Deputy police Chief Kathleen Jones said her department also uses a trustee three days a week to maintain cars and clean up.

"It does take an officer a little time to pick them up, but I think the benefits outweigh the drawbacks," she said. "It's just about a 20-minute drive to the prison."

Consentino said he's upset the program was cut, but can't change what happened.

"It's a shame the program went down, but I will live with the board's decision and move on," he said.