OETA Story on Inmate Meat Cutters aired on 07/23/09 скачать в хорошем качестве

OETA Story on Inmate Meat Cutters aired on 07/23/09

This is a story that aired on OETA Public Television's The Oklahoma News Report in Tulsa Oklahoma as reported by Cathy Tatom and photojournalist Edwin Wilson. For more information or to contact us, please go to the new and improved www.oeta.tv The verbatim script follows below... SOME MIGHT CALL IT CRAZY TO HAND KNIVES TO PRISON INMATES. BUT NOT THE FOLKS RUNNING THE CERTIFIED MEAT CUTTER'S PROGRAM AT THE JACKIE BRANNON CORRECTIONAL CENTER IN McALESTER. THE KNIVES THEY HAND OUT HELP INMATES CARVE THEMSELVES A PRODUCTIVE FUTURE AFTER PAYING THIER DEBT TO SOCIETY. OETA'S CATHY TATOM HAS THE STORY. IN A MATTER OF MINUTES, SCOTT BRADLEY CAN EXPERTLY TURN A SIDE OF BEEF OR PORK INTO STEAKS, ROASTS AND SPECIALTY CUTS. Scott Bradley/Inmate Meat Cutter: "We make roasts, brisket, short ribs, steaks, pretty much anything you need beef or pork. Port chops, pork steak, hams." IT'S A SKILL HE LEARNED HERE AT THE MEAT PROCESSING PLANT INSIDE THE JACKIE BRANNON CORRECTIONAL FACILITY WHERE HE'S SERVING TIME FOR ARSON. IN A FEW MONTHS, HE WILL WALK OUT PRISON AFTER NINE YEARS BEHIND BARS. WHILE PAYING HIS DEBT TO SOCIETY, HE LEARNED A NEW TRADE. BRADLEY BECAME A CERTIFIED MEAT CUTTER BY COMPLETING ONE OF THE STATE PRISON SYSTEM'S TOUGHEST VO-TECH JOB TRAINING PROGRAMS. BOBBY STEVENS RUNS IT. Bobby Stevens/Inmate Meat Program Supervisor: "It's a three year program and if they get in any kind of trouble they can't stay in our program so the institution likes it because the boys have to be good." SINCE IT BEGAN 1996, ONLY 27 INMATES HAVE SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETED THE PROGRAM. IN PART BECAUSE THEY ALWAYS HAVE TO BE ON THEIR BEST BEHAVIOR... AND, BECAUSE INMATES LEARNING TO BE CERTIFIED MEAT CUTTERS HAVE TO COMPLETE 144 HOURS OF CLASSROOM TRAINING.... AND FINISH THEIR G-E-D WITHIN NINE MONTHS OF BEING ACCEPTED INTO THE PROGRAM IF THEY DON'T ALREADY HAVE A HIGH SCHOOL DIPLOMA. IN ADDITION TO CUTTING MEAT, THEY ALSO HAVE TO LEARN HOW TO MAKE PREPARED MEAT PRODUCTS LIKE BOLOGNA, SALAMI, SAUSAGES AND HOT DOGS. Bobby Stevens/Inmate Meat Program Supervisor: "We work 'em for about six month in each aspect like the sausage kitchen, the harvesting floor, the boning floor, and they learn each aspect of the meat cutting industry." Antonio Edwards/Inmate Meat Cutter: "I got into this program because it was a vo-tech program and I wanted to learn something so when I went back to the streets I have a decent trade to us so I can provide for myself." FOR THOSE LIKE ANTONIO EDWARDS WHO MAKE THE CUT AND COMPLETE THEIR EDUCATION... STAY OUT OF TROUBLE... AND PUT IN A MINIMUM OF 2000-HOURS A YEAR ON THE MEAT PROCESSING FLOORS... THE REWARDS ARE HIGH. Antonio Edwards/Inmate Meat Cutter: "Now I have a decent trade, I'm certified with the State of Oklahoma, I can work or I can supervise a floor and just hopefully somebody'll give me a chance when I get out." Bobby Stevens/Inmate Meat Program Supervisor: "The big processing plants will take all we can send em." Scott Bradley/Meat Cutter: "I've already got a job lined up." STARTING PAY FOR CERTIFIED MEAT CUTTERS IS $15-DOLLARS AN HOUR AND UP ON THE OUTSIDE. EVEN IN PRISON IT'S ONE OF THE HIGHEST PAYING JOBS AN INMATE CAN GET. Scott Bradley/Meat Cutter: "I'm making 40-cents an hour." COMPARE THAT TO THE 10-CENTS AN HOUR TYPICALLY PAID FOR MANY OTHER PRISON JOBS. AND INMATES IN THIS PROGRAM AREN'T THE ONLY ONES WHO BENEFIT FROM IT. Cathy: "All of the meat that's processed here feeds the prisoners in this prison and all the prisons in the State as well as many of the jails." THAT IN TURN BENEFITS TAXPAYERS BY SIGNIFICANTLY LOWERING THE COST OF THE BEEF, PORK, POULTRY AND PROCESSED MEATS SERVED IN PRISONS AND JAILS ACROSS THE STATE. IN McALESTER, I'M CATHY TATOM, THE OKLAHOMA NEWS REPORT.