Gretchen Van Ness
Inmates shovel Hyde Square on Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2015.
A public records request by ThinkProgress has finally answered the question of how much prisoners were paid to shovel out the Boston area this winter, including crews in JP.
Turns out it was between $3 and $4 a day.
Back in February, when the neighborhood was still blanketed in snow and ice, Jamaica Plain News had reached out to the Suffolk County Sheriff's Office for the figure. We never received a response.
Among the areas shoveled by prisoners was Hyde Square. Teams of convicts were dispatched to various parts of the region as Boston battled record snowfall.
WHDH reported inmates were also set to work on the Red Line around Braintree. The Suffolk County Sheriff's Office reported in February that it had sent seven crews of 61 inmates out to help dig out from the storm.
For a full breakdown of what ThinkProgress learned from its public records request, please click through to their story. [And a hat tip to BostInno for publicizing the story.]