Six Georgia Inmates Saved Officer's Life

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SH90
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23 Jun 2017, 10:46 pm

Six Georgia Inmates Receive Reduced Sentences for Saving Officer’s Life


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Six Georgia inmates have been granted reduced sentences for saving a sheriff's deputy who collapsed during a work detail.

The prisoners at Polk County jail got their sentences cut by 25 percent after saving an officer who passed out on June 12, CNN reported Thursday. The deputy suffers suffered from a chronic medical condition that became agitated by the heat outside.

The deputy was on detail supervising the inmates perform lawn maintenance at a cemetery when he collapsed.

The six inmates sprang into action, instead of fleeing, after the officer began hyperventilating before passing out.

"When he started breathing, it was just real heavy and real fast," inmate Greg Williams said.

One inmate used the deputy's phone to call 911 and another removed his bulletproof vest and gun belt so he could breath easier.

"When that happened, in my opinion, it wasn't about who is in jail and who wasn’t," Williams said. "It was about a man going down and we had to help him."

Due to the inmates' quick response, the medics arrived at the scene shortly after to take over.

"They really stepped up in a time of crisis and show that they care about my officers," Polk County Sheriff Johnny Moats said. "That really speaks a lot about my officers too, how they treat these inmates. They treat them like people. Like family."

The deputy has since recovered and returned to work.

None of the prisoners are violent offenders and charges against them range from probation violations to minor drug crimes. In addition to reduced sentences, the six inmates who saved the deputy received a celebratory lunch and dessert in the park prepared by the deputy's family.

"They could have taken the gun, got the work van and gone," Moats told TIME. "They could have done anything they wanted. They were out there by themselves with this one officer. If they would have left him there, it could have been hours before anyone came across him."

The sheriff's office wrote in a Facebook post after the incident that the situation could have turned violent like another story about Georgia inmates. Two prisoners suspected of killing two corrections officers during their escape from a prisoner bus last week were later captured in Tennessee.

"As we watched the horrific man hunt this week of the two inmates that killed two correctional officers and were captured last night, we all know that Monday could have ended differently for our officer," the sheriff's office said.


I hope they continue keeping up the good work when they get out.



friedmacguffins
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24 Jun 2017, 12:27 pm

Under Enlightenment ideals, jails were run somewhat along the lines of sanitariums. They took sensory deprivation to such an extent, that people have been forced to wear pads on their feet.

In any case, I don't feel that confinement restores the victim of calculable losses, nor brings closure.

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None of the prisoners are violent offenders

If everything is perfectly-equitable, which is worth more --
the life of your guard
some nominal offense, in which no victim has been named



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27 Jun 2017, 11:31 am

They were non-violent offenders. I'm glad they had their sentences cut and had a pizza party for this heroic act. Justice was carried out.

:applauds:

I wish them the very best of luck upon release, and I hope their potential employers all read about this and see their faces in the photo.



friedmacguffins
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27 Jun 2017, 5:48 pm

Why do we need to be protected from a non-violent person, or what is the purpose.

These inmates are more generous than I might have been.



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27 Jun 2017, 6:51 pm

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Why do we need to be protected from a non-violent person, or what is the purpose.


Because non-violent offenders can include arsonists, vandals, thieves, money launderers, and drug dealers/users. Although non-violent, they still pose a threat to society and to themselves. You can't work at or go home to a building that has burned down. Vandalism includes not just gangs marking territory with signs and signatures, but also tire slashing, breaking windows, keying a car, etc. All of which can make someone very uncomfortable to say the least when paired with stalking, another crime that many states consider non-violent. As for drug users- drug users endanger themselves and others: by attempting to leap off tall structures, by driving under the influence, by neglecting their children (another non-violent crime), by neglecting their living space (attracting pests and providing a breeding ground for all kinds of things), by spreading disease (when they re-use needles or perform sex acts for drugs), by tying up EMS, by depending on the state for food, housing and medical needs, etc. Drug dealers often cut what they sell with dangerous substances, further endangering drug users. Drug dealers in meth may create their own product, which besides being physically dangerous to themselves and any neighbors, can leave poisonous residue for the next renter/owner. Drug dealers are not physicians. They don't examine anybody or take a medical history. They just deal drugs. If the user has a hidden condition or something runs in their family or they are taking another drug (prescribed or not), it can effect how they experience/survive whatever the dealer sells them. They do not exist in a vacuum either. They are always a cog in the violent machine that is the world of cartels, gangs, and mobs, which ultimately control their industry.

So just because they're non-violent doesn't mean that they only hurt themselves, or that nobody besides them needs protection from them.