VIDEO: Keeping Clay County Inmates Safe On The Job

CLAY COUNTY, Miss.(WCBI)—After an inmate was killed in a garbage truck accident just over a month ago in South Mississippi, law enforcement in Clay County are looking into ways to better protect inmates working on the back end of garbage trucks.

Clay County Sheriff Eddie Scott wants the trustees working on the back of garbage trucks to be safe while on the job.

“Everyday we have our inmates out there working. Their safety is always a concern of ours, with the amount of traffic we have on the road,” said Scott.

An inmate in George County was killed in an accident, causing the Mississippi Department Of Corrections to re-evaluate it’s trustee policies.

“M.D.O.C. decided we needed to do more to strengthen up the safety of the workers on the back of these garbage trucks,”said Scott.

In the supervisors board meeting Tuesday, Scott suggests adding standing cages and additional reflective lights on the trucks.

He also suggested a tracking system be added to the dump trucks. A system, he’s already had great success with in his department.

“This device helps us track our vehicles and it aids our dispatchers in knowing where our units are, where they could possibly dispatch quicker. It also gives me a history, I can go back and look and see where the cars were and how long they were there,”said Scott.

Scott says they’re assembling the cages now and working toward more training for both inmates and truck drivers. He says though the inmates have committed a crime they still have so much to offer the area.

” The inmate labor that the county has, it provides so much for the county., I ask the public to just be aware that these guys are out here not just working on garbage trucks but they’re mowing the sides of roads, cleaning out ditches. These guys are always in harms way,”said Scott.

Sheriff Scott goes on to say the new additions will be tested once a month to ensure they are in proper working order. The project should be complete by early September.