The city of Yakima is planning to have jail inmates help with graffiti abatement as soon as COVID-19 restrictions lift.
Corrections Commander Maritza Davis said the jail first had a graffiti program in 2008. Staff resurrected the concept when city employees from the codes and neighborhood development departments asked for help with graffiti abatement.
Ten of her 14 staff volunteered to help with the abatement, and they’re currently the ones out on the street helping.
Davis said the outside components of the jail’s inmate worker program have been on hold with COVID-19. But as soon as restrictions lift, Davis said she also has a number of inmates eager to help erase graffiti.
“As soon as the restrictions are lifted, then it’s go time,” she said.
The department’s policy notes the worker inmate program aims to help inmates develop useful job skills, work habits and experiences that will help them successfully transition back to society.
People in the program aren’t paid for the work they do. But there are other perks, including special housing, cable TV, free access to the jail’s kitchen, and the chance to go outside for longer periods of time, Davis said.
Inmates also can earn “good time” credit — of up to a third off their sentence lengths — for successfully completing the program, Davis said.
To be eligible for program activities that take place outdoors, inmates must have only misdemeanor charges and must have been sentenced to minimize safety and flight risks. They can’t have any holds from outside agencies, any history of assaulting officers or attempting to escape, or any disciplinary records or medical concerns, Davis said.
The program requires inmate supervision at all times by corrections staff. Work periods can’t exceed 10 hours per day, and inmates receive equipment needed for the work as well as breaks, according to the policy.
Inmates initiate the process by requesting to be a part of the program, she added.
“Nobody forces them to be a part of the program,” she said. “They also can quit at any time.”
Davis said the inmate worker abatement program will likely start with one corrections officer overseeing two inmates, with possibilities to expand later.
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August 30, 2020 at 04:45PM
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Yakima's inmates to help with city graffiti abatement efforts - Yakima Herald-Republic
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