Corrections Commissioner Anthony Torres holds a uniform to be worn by inmates during voluntary public work.
A MEMORANDUM of understanding has been signed for Saipan inmates doing voluntary work for the Department of Corrections, the Department of Public Safety, and the Department of Fire and Emergency Medical Services.
In a press conference last week, Corrections Commissioner Anthony Torres said he, DPS Commissioner Clement Bermudes and DFEMS Commissioner Juan Pua signed the MOU on Dec. 1.
“This MOU was established to formalize the guidelines for the effective supervision of assigned inmate workers and their appropriate identification,” Torres said. “This MOU describes the roles and responsibilities of all parties in achieving these goals and objectives. There’s an expectation that officers are to supervise these inmates and, if they are caught doing anything, to hold them accountable and send them right back,” he added.
“We’ve never had an MOU in the past and I knew it was something that needed to be done so that we have an understanding in place where expectations are set forth regarding proper supervision of inmates,” Torres said.
As part of the MOU, he said inmates will be provided “identifiers” or uniforms that are “color coded” to indicate the specific department they are working for.
Torres said the uniforms will help officers and civilians identify inmates out in public, and ensure they are not doing anything questionable.
“For inmates working at DPS, a light blue shirt will be assigned,” he said. “DFEMS inmate workers will wear orange, green uniforms will be worn by inmates assigned to work at Corrections, and a gray shirt will be assigned for [our] outreach projects,” Torres said.
“These identifiers [will be worn] so that the public knows that these inmates are not to be approached. In the past, inmates were allowed to wear civilian clothes and that is strictly prohibited moving forward,” he added.
“If the public sees inmates in these identifiers doing questionable things, they should report it as soon as possible. The first step to rehabilitation is coupling it with accountability. We ask the community to help with accountability,” Torres said.
“Community members who see inmates doing anything questionable, even if it’s just taking off their uniform or entering a store without their uniform are encouraged to call 911 and report it,” he added.
Torres said the inmates performing voluntary work do not get paid.
DPS and DFEMS, for their part, will pay for the inmates’ uniforms including safety shoes, he added.
