Wash. Prisons Cut Costs by Trimming Sock Sizes
- Posted on December 12, 2010 at 11:19am by
Jonathon M. Seidl
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OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) — With Washington state agencies looking for ways to save money, the Corrections Department says it’s economizing by recycling inmate uniforms, switching to juice boxes and providing shorter socks.
The agency says it expects to save $120,000 each year by replacing self-serve cafeteria juice fountains with juice boxes.
Shorter socks? That’s another $22,000 annual savings.
A spokesman says clothing will also be used more, but it’s unclear how much that will save.
Another money saver: reducing the number of trash can liners purchased annually by 40 percent, which will save an estimated $220,000 a year.
Larger cost reductions include the closing of two minimum-security prisons and the planned closure of another operation next year.
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Information from: The Seattle Times, http://www.seattletimes.com
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Comments (62)
NickinSeattle
Posted on December 12, 2010 at 10:09pmIt’s not much but I guess it is a start.In Seattle the city has threatened to cut law enforcement and prosecutors and to quit prosecuting property crimes because they were not granted their latest tax wishes. I thought protection rackets were illegal. I guess the sock thing makes better press than discussing the theft of school budgets placed into the general fund. Washington is a one party state, Communist. Gregoire Smith, Reichert, Cantwell and Murray are thieves that have no business in office.
Report Post »normageane
Posted on December 12, 2010 at 6:56pmIt use to be people on the out side bought the prisoner their clothes and provided bank funds. The prisoners should have pay for their own clothing. They should have buy the prison blues line of clothing that would help put money back into the system. Also Sherrif Joe should do lectures on tent cities for all states since our military has to live that way they should too!.
Report Post »Ken
Posted on December 12, 2010 at 6:14pmAnd just what is are the state union members giving up??
Report Post »nothernfriend
Posted on December 13, 2010 at 2:41amYou ever see what the guards go through in a prison? Its not the best of conditions. They dont need to give up anything. But if your talking about the fat cats behind the scense who just make rules and really dont get there hands dirty then I agree. But the prisoners should have no rights and special treatment once they go through those doors. We need to start making prison like a boot camp “hell on earth” make them not want to come back.
Report Post »spreadcommonsensenot pc
Posted on December 12, 2010 at 4:21pmforget blankets to—–get snuggies
Report Post »Ookspay
Posted on December 12, 2010 at 3:41pmIn my prison there are no socks, why do you need socks when you have no feet? No escaping, no fences, no guards no FEET!
Report Post »Fedupinpa
Posted on December 12, 2010 at 2:07pmOur local County prison was working on ways to save $s & the hosts of a morning talk show had a couple of ideas. Do away with soap – have the prisoners lick & groom each other. Hook ip exercise bike generators to the tv…. no work=no tv. Eliminate gym equipment, let get their exercise working self supporting truck farms & orchards. Raise specialty fruits & veggies for profit. What’s wrong with beef & dairy farms? Chicken farms? Do away with free law libraries.
Report Post »crossdraw
Posted on December 12, 2010 at 1:31pmIf you really want to save money take the lifers out to a post and put a round into them. That will save mucho money and we will be rid of the worst scum. Supporting bastards who killed women,children and families is just dumb ass lunacy. Put em down.
Report Post »MeteoricLimbo
Posted on December 12, 2010 at 1:02pmChristmas cutbacks
Report Post »Tyrone
Posted on December 12, 2010 at 12:53pmThis is pure cruelty! How dare they treat these wrongly convicted peple like animals. I know that they are all innocent because they say so. They are all a result of our uncaring society. If this country was not so barbaric we would raise taxes on the rich and hire each one of these victims a personal counselor. What punishment will be heaped on these poor souls next? Do not be surprised to hear that they are being served Bran without the raisans.
Report Post »mtnclimberjim
Posted on December 12, 2010 at 12:18pmOK, clean up death row and bury them naked. =’s excess clothing
Report Post »Merry Christmas
spendthrift
Posted on December 12, 2010 at 12:10pmA penny saved is a penny earned for the taxpayer.
Report Post »RightPolitically
Posted on December 12, 2010 at 11:59amThat’s great. More money for the GREEDY UNIONS!
Report Post »megaman
Posted on December 12, 2010 at 11:57amsounds like a good idea to me a little savings here a little saving there adds up
Report Post »bigdaddybernie
Posted on December 12, 2010 at 11:56amMaybe they ‘break rocks in the hot sun’ for fun and PROFIT, after all………the LAW won!
Report Post »jmparrish
Posted on December 15, 2010 at 3:28amhow about pick apples in the hot sun…the Mexican immigrants swarm to eastern washington to work in the orchards…why not make some inmates do the same…because quite frankly ordinary americans will not do that work…im told that way back when…kids were the ones that did most of the back breaking harvest work…it wasnt back breaking to them because they are so short and have so much energy…how about using child labor again? along with inmate labor.
Report Post »bigdaddybernie
Posted on December 12, 2010 at 11:52amPerhaps they could save a whole lot of money by approaching the FELONS with extreme prejudice.
Report Post »BurntHills
Posted on December 12, 2010 at 11:51amthey have JUICE BOXES?!
Report Post »Reagan/Demint.deciple
Posted on December 12, 2010 at 12:05pmNot yet… But anyway, aren’t those progressives worried about pollution ? Do you know how long it takes for a juice box to disolve into dust ? lol, HYPOCRITE much ? No palstic bags at the shopping mall but juice boxes for prisoners… lmao
Report Post »BurntHills
Posted on December 12, 2010 at 11:50amthey have SOCKS?!
Report Post »Country
Posted on December 12, 2010 at 11:49amMaybe if they did this 20 years ago, we would not be in a recession.
Report Post »nephewofdboone
Posted on December 12, 2010 at 11:43amI’m in Washington, and they still don’t get it. They only got halfway to the needed savings mark, and adjourned, calling it a great success. McClatchey’s rag here, the News Tribune, makes it look like our lawmakers have turned into great saviors, but during a hiring freeze, they hired 1700 people. Don’t believe the hype, they are mostly socialists and communists, and one of their congressmen is Jim McDermott, SD, 7th district WA, an openly known and registered, dues paying member of the Socialist party of America. That’s right, a Socialist. An enemy of all that America represents, and the sworn enemy of the Founding Fathers. Do you get it? Their goal is to overthrow America and destroy Capitalism! They are no better than Somali pirates, and they should be dealt with the same way.
Report Post »ARIZONA VETERAN
Posted on December 12, 2010 at 12:11pmWalk the plank!!!
Report Post »MissCherryJones
Posted on December 12, 2010 at 2:55pmYes, all of Western Washington seem to be like that. I haven’t lived there for 7 yrs, but I remember them in Seattle and Olympia as left-wing nuts. Thankfully there are sane people on the other side of the Cascades….but just not enough to make a difference. W. WA politics is a main reason I don’t want to move back “home.”
Report Post »GeauxAlready
Posted on December 12, 2010 at 11:37amWanna save money make then live like a solider. A tent, no AC or TV, no comforts, maybe a hot meal now and them, same goes for a hot shower. And work their asses off till their to tired to do anything else but sleep. Make them grow their own food. You don‘t work you don’t eat. Make them earn it.
Report Post »Reagan/Demint.deciple
Posted on December 12, 2010 at 12:01pmIn other words, be more like Arizona.. Agreed !!
Report Post »moreteaplease
Posted on December 13, 2010 at 11:39amGood point. Our soldiers live in some of the harshest elements under the worst conditions and yet our prison population gets taken waaay better care of. This country is in bad shape.
Report Post »Gas137
Posted on December 12, 2010 at 11:36amIt might be better to reduce the number of feet filling the socks. Intervention rather than incarceration.
Report Post »ARIZONA VETERAN
Posted on December 12, 2010 at 12:10pmI agree, exception IS= reduction in prison population is achieved via more executions….
Report Post »untameable-kate
Posted on December 12, 2010 at 2:07pmClear out all those pigs living on death row for years and years. I agree Arizona, also make punishments fit the crimes for violent offenders. That should clear some of these scumbags out. How many people would commit murder if they knew they would be killed in the same manner as their victims? How many men would commit rape if they had their testicles scraped off with a rusty knife in a public square? How many women woulds beat their kids or leave them in a 200 degree car to die if the punishment was to get what you gave?
Report Post »Sheepdog911
Posted on December 12, 2010 at 2:53pmIntervention = more expeditious exercising of our 2nd Amendment rights during the commission of those crimes.
Report Post »hkyfan36
Posted on December 12, 2010 at 8:11pmCut off there nose and ears
Report Post »heavyduty
Posted on December 12, 2010 at 11:35amI have a better way of cutting costs in the prisons. Let them buy their own health insurance by working for it. If they don‘t want to work for it then they don’t have it. The major cost of inmates is the medical portion of their incarceration. The honest hard working tax payer doesn’t get free medical. They can’t go to a dentist and get dentures, because they used so much meth that it rotted their teeth. They can’t go get expensive heart drugs and but these prisoners sure can. My wife works at a prison as a nurse and she can’t believe all the medical treatment that the prisons have to pay out each year for prisoners, especially after a riot, or soccer or basketball games. Seems to me they could use that time out in a garden raising their own vegetables, or in the shop building stuff to help pay their way.
Report Post »Reagan/Demint.deciple
Posted on December 12, 2010 at 11:59amAre you crazy ??? lmao , that would be inhumaine. Of course i spelled it wrong , for a reason..
Report Post »Reagan/Demint.deciple
Posted on December 12, 2010 at 12:00pmBTW, I was being facetious.. I totally agree with you ,Heavy..
Report Post »booger71
Posted on December 12, 2010 at 12:33pmI’m with ya, but several Federal Court cases have given inmates everywhere the best medical care in the country (I worked in a Federal Prison hospital for 21 years)
Report Post »AnOregonian
Posted on December 12, 2010 at 2:53pmWhat about organ transplants for convicted death row illegal aliens inmates on appeal, that program needs to stay in place; in the event justice might actually be served at some point.
Report Post »joseph Fawcett
Posted on December 12, 2010 at 11:31amGreat to hear!!!! this is good news! I am serious, it sounds like those people are getting it, finally!
http://www.josephfawcettart.com western artist
Report Post »teddieandkaylee
Posted on December 12, 2010 at 1:38pmWaste, fraud and abuse seems to be a way of life in government in most jurisdiction, the exception are the entitities that are cutting expenses no matter how trivial some people might think they are.
Report Post »There is an attitudinal problem in that some people think the one to two percent that earmarks cost is a small amount. Behner says he is going to reduce virtal all costs in congress by 5 percent. That may not be a lot compared with the almost $14 trillion deficit but if that attitude catches on and other governers pay attention to Chris Christie and take on the unions to get some sanity back into their pay scales and pensions who knows where it all might end up. Sheriff Joe certainly has the right approach, embarrass prisoners, make them uncomfortable and feed them the bare necessities. My God, they get better health care than the general population of the USA?? There should be an Arpaio university where sheriffs and wardens would go to learn his methods.
Bad Thunder
Posted on December 12, 2010 at 11:30amthey have a $550,000/yr trash can liner budget? Holy smokes
Report Post »untameable-kate
Posted on December 12, 2010 at 11:48amFunny that now, when they are in trouble, they can find all this waste they never noticed before. Why don’t they have this all the time? I guess when they have all this “free” money laying around they don’t care to manage it wisely.
Report Post »Sparkyspool
Posted on December 12, 2010 at 1:59pmThey are the Prisoner proof Liners. $1,245.80 Each
Report Post »snowleopard3200 {mix art}
Posted on December 12, 2010 at 11:22amI guess if it works, and they need to save the money, let them do it. Just as long as the system still is able to detain the prisoners.
Report Post »dwh320
Posted on December 12, 2010 at 11:28amShorter socks? Stop jerking us around and cut the massive pensions of state employees.
Report Post »MarkAZ
Posted on December 12, 2010 at 12:59pmSheriff Joe of Maricopa County AZ, needs to be brought in as a consultant to help these prisons find better and more creative ways to save money. Making them live in tents and eat Bologna for all three meals not only keeps cost down, but deters them from wanting to come back.
Report Post »daylee
Posted on December 12, 2010 at 1:01pmWhat the heck is wrong with them drinking water from a tin cup?
Report Post »HillBillySam1
Posted on December 12, 2010 at 1:04pmYou know what else would be benefiial financially?? More “tent cities” and road crews(aka chain-gangs). Let these people give back to society thru productive work and less amenities. I do not advocate being cruel but I believe that going to jail should be more than just an “inconvenience”. Our entitlement society would benefit from learning that you have to earn your way in life…..if you try to take or steal, you will not be rewarded with just a slap on the hand.
Report Post »Dustyluv
Posted on December 12, 2010 at 1:15pmWill that be the carbon offset for the flat screen televisions?
Bread water and a pillow, then see how fast they want to come back.
Report Post »untameable-kate
Posted on December 12, 2010 at 1:19pmAgree with all, when did prison start being such a vacation? Go Sheriff Joe!
Report Post »cognitivedissonance
Posted on December 12, 2010 at 1:26pmhow about decriminalizing basic possession of narcotics. That would create massive savings
Report Post »Sheepdog911
Posted on December 12, 2010 at 1:28pmAnything beyond a prisoner’s initial issue of clothing should have to be paid for. Why are tax payers paying for all of this. Make them work and pay for their things just like the rest of us do? OK, like most of the rest of us do? Criminals earned their way into prison, they should also have to earn their way through prison. Liberals would probably consider that “forced labor.” I call it working for a living … if you want to eat, you will work so long as you ae physically capable.
Report Post »Sinista Mace
Posted on December 12, 2010 at 2:42pmDWH320 hit it on the head.
Report Post »Nvrforget
Posted on December 12, 2010 at 3:20pm“how about decriminalizing basic possession of narcotics. That would create massive savings”
Are you going soft on crime or what? Three strikes laws should be extended to everything. Screw up thrice? Shot on the spot. That‘s how it’s supposed to be. Imagine what a nice, polite and muslim-free society we’d have.
Report Post »cognitivedissonance
Posted on December 12, 2010 at 3:29pmGlad to know calm, rational people have a wonderful vision of the future.
Report Post »independentvoteril
Posted on December 12, 2010 at 4:36pmHillBillySam1.. making these guys/girls doing some community work could never be considered cruel punishment.. look at how much money the state/city workers get doing things like picking up garbage.. there is a problem with some of the people they have locked up. here in IL if you have to many parking tickets they will lock you up it’s a joke to keep state workers working..
Report Post »ozz
Posted on December 12, 2010 at 4:46pmBuild a wall and post military guards on it at the borders and send all the illegal prisoners home back over the border after putting a big “P” tattoo on their forehead. That would decrease the national prison population by over 30%. Then decriminalize all drugs and let NON violent drug offenders out. There goes over half your population. Put the prisoners you have to work maintaining our highways make them grow their own food and clothing. In concept prison costs could be zeroed out by the labor provided on infrastructure. Let them have that big screen TV, but make them EARN it.
Report Post »tobywil2
Posted on December 12, 2010 at 5:06pmThink about how much they could save on prisons if victimless crime laws were eliminated!
Report Post »http://commonsense21c.com/
hkyfan36
Posted on December 12, 2010 at 8:07pmMy fix Prisioner Pochinco…. you set up this huge pochinco ish thing off the golden gate bridge. it has a bunch of colored poles. Each pole is a different value. The prisioner is asked if he wants to participate. If he or she does $10,000.00 goes to the fellons family. All extra money is given as restitution to victims or back to the prision system. You sell this to pay per view and you have off shore betting on this. Inmate takes the leap and as he falls he starts hitting the poles and racking up points. Tally the points. Sharks get a free meal.
Report Post »Not crule because there is not manditory. The victims family gets a little cash the victims of the crimes get restitution. And a lot of money is made in the process. Not to mention there minute of fame.
jmparrish
Posted on December 15, 2010 at 3:14amHere is the problem with tents in Washington State…it gets cold enough to kill people…Do we want our prisons to become death camps?
Here is the probelm with water out of a tin cup…malnutrition…people have nutritional needs that can only be met by a healthy diet, if they are not offered such they can die from it….again..death camp anyone?
Here is a better idea…lets release all the damn pot heads and make them pay a large fine instead…rather then dish out $50,000 or whatever it costs to house an inmate for each pot head in jail/prison/year…we could actually be netting like $10,000 each…
imagine all the extra years we could extend to the sentences of rapists and manslaughter inmates if we cut out the expenses of housing marijuana people…as far as illegals go though…they should have extra time added on and be made to work in state run apple and cherry orchards..
infact make all inmates work in a state orchard and start making money rather then costing it…if they dont work they dont get any privlages…as far as nutrition goes…maybe a multivitamin and some bread.
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