Press Release - March 3, 2003
Office of the Commissioner of Probation

The Community Service Program of the Office of the Commissioner of Probation Helps Cash-Strapped Cities and Towns Shovel Out

           The Community Service Program of the Office of the Commissioner of Probation is saving local cities and towns, schools, and several state agencies thousands of dollars in snow and ice removal costs and is helping to fill the void of short-staffed and budget-depleted Public Works Departments throughout the Commonwealth.

           “This program not only provides offenders with constructive work, the work they do is helping local cities and towns as well as agencies who don’t have enough in their budget to get this much-needed work done,” said Dave Skocik, Assistant Statewide Supervisor for the Community Service Program.

           In Suffolk County, offender work crews, numbering 30 men and women, have been dispatched to the Southwest Corridor, a 4.7 mile area --which extends from Forest Hills to Storrow Drive in Boston -- to remove snow and ice along trails, overpasses, underpasses, sidewalks and streets. The Community Service Program has assigned offenders snow removal at Metropolitan District Commission areas such as the walkways along Pleasure Bay to Castle Island in Boston and the ramps along the two-mile stretch of Lynn Shore Drive. Offenders also help maintain the grounds of the Franklin Park Zoo where they have worked up to 60 hours. Work crews have also spent 60 or more hours removing snow and ice from the grounds of courts throughout Suffolk County. The Dorchester District, Roxbury District, West Roxbury District and Suffolk Superior courts are among the buildings where grounds have been cleared.

           The Community Service Program has also assisted the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) with snow and ice removal as well as general maintenance at its stations in East Boston and Chelsea and the station at Government Center/City Hall.

           In Norfolk County, 30 offenders have shoveled out and cleared the streets and sidewalks along the 3.5 mile stretch of Hancock Street, one of Quincy’s biggest and busiest thoroughfares. They have also dug out hydrants and cleared crosswalks. So far, offenders have spent 1,200 hours on this ongoing project.

           Plymouth County has the Community Service Program to thank for snow removal along Brockton’s Main Street where offenders have cleared hydrants and crosswalks along the 3- mile area. Work crews have also cleared Pearl Street of snow, ice and trash.

           The Community Service Program has also come to the aid of municipalities on the Cape where offenders removed snow and ice from the sidewalks, crosswalks and hydrants in the towns of Hyannis, Falmouth and Orleans. Through the program, offenders have maintained the grounds of the Barnstable Court complex: including the District, Probate and Superior courts.

           The Massachusetts Probation Service is a department of the Massachusetts Trial Court. There are 12 Superior Court, 70 District Court and 12 Probate & Family Court probation offices throughout the Commonwealth. Probation’s Juvenile Court system includes 11 divisions which represent every county in the state. The Office of the Commissioner of Probation (OCP) serves as the central administrative office for the state Probation Service and the Office of Community Corrections which operates 22 Community Corrections Centers throughout the state.