With more than three dozen programs in the Sheriff’s Reentry Services Division to help inmates transition back into the community, a job training program at the East Mesa Reentry Facility is helping reduce the risks and hazards from wildfires around community facilities such as radio towers.
Deputy Giovanni Tello said these infrastructures are important because of the many entities that utilize the towers on a daily basis, from fire departments, emergency personnel and deputies in the field to the detention facilities.
“As part of Reentry Services I provide safety, security and supervision. I am also a role model for these workers. Hopefully I can make some kind of impact on their lives,” Tello said. “I’m in a unique position as a Reentry Services deputy. The inmates get to go out into the community, they get to do various projects. The work they do today with radio towers is crucial because the radio towers provide communication.”
“The inmates are completing a task and I am making sure they complete that task. They also ask me questions and I am able to offer them feedback,” he said. “I like to instill responsibility and accountability. They are out in the community and doing a job. Those two things can transition into the real world where they can use that in a job. The Reentry Services programs that we offer are a great resource for them in honing those skills.”
While working at a tower facility on Palomar Mountain, creating a buffer zone by removing brush and trimming trees, Bruce Young, landscaping participant, said the work they are doing is important to ensure there are no fire hazards in the area.
Young said he was initially interested in the construction program but, due to COVID-19, the program was not available.
“This was another option that was available, and I have done some previous work in landscaping, so I thought this would be a great opportunity to get out and see some of the county while I’m incarcerated,” said Young. “It has been awesome. I love it. The food is great. The scenery is unbelievable getting to go to some of these places.”
Young said he learned that developing a routine can be important and beneficial to doing his time and making sure he is being productive. He said that is the biggest thing he would say in helping himself.
“Helping others and working well with others are all things that I have been part of in the past,” he said. “Honestly, I think it is a great opportunity and I feel very grateful to be a part of it because this infrastructure is really vital.”
Young said he never thought he would have the opportunity to be a part of something like this. He said the fact they trust him to come and help, keep facilities safe and working hard for the community is “awesome.”
He said before participating in the program, he believed to a certain extent that law enforcement was “out to get you;” but he sees now that is not necessarily the case. Young said he got in trouble, had to face the consequences, and this program is already helping him in his transition from an inmate to a citizen in the outside world.
“It’s a second chance and people believe in second chances,” said Young.
“When you trust someone they are inclined to give you some trust back. That is something that I take pride in, being a trustee here. The programs are very helpful because of the work ethic it helps establish. Some people don’t have the opportunity to have that and that is very beneficial when you go back out into society.”
Tello said the radio towers are crucial to public safety and for inmates who come out and work. It gives them a skill and a work ethic they can use.
“The public, in essence, does see them and they can see them more as people rather than inmates or criminals,” he said. “It feels good knowing that if they come out here with a good work ethic and are able to learn some kind of skill, they can transition to the real world so they don’t go back into custody. That is ultimately the goal of Reentry Services.”
