Sheriff Tony Mancuso has declared that “all aspects” of a work program for Calcasieu prisoners preparing for release will be reviewed. They should be.
Mancuso’s intention was expressed in response to the recent murder of Brittany Grosse, 21, who worked at Big Daddy’s Grill in Lake Charles and was killed recently near the restaurant where
she worked. Dustin Belast Pleasant, a prisoner in the Transitional
Work Program who was accused of the murder, later died by his own
hand in a cell at Angola State Penitentiary.
Mancuso said this week that changes may
be coming in how the program is carried out. For example, he said,
patrol officers
may stop by prisoners’ workplaces to check on them, in addition to
the spot checks that are routinely done. That’s a good
start. In fact, Mancuso said, spot checks done in the weeks before
the murder showed the program was being carried out effectively,
which is encouraging. Nonetheless, tragically, Ms. Grosse died
despite the Sheriff’s Office’s best efforts.
A word about the program: The Transitional Work Program has been around in some form for at least two decades, perhaps much
longer. More than 3,700 prisoners approaching release from custody take part in the work program in 46 work-release sites
around Louisiana. Standards established for the program include that participants be first-time offenders.
Mancuso said the program is largely
effective. He should not be doubted. When the program works right, it
prepares prisoners
for work in the world outside; they leave custody with a job and
some money to help them make a new start in life. In fact,
inmates pay their per diem expenses for their incarceration up
front in their paychecks. Those are all positive aspects of
the program.
But a murder of an innocent woman is a
terrible price to pay for any program, no matter how well intentioned
the program is,
and bears tough scrutiny. Although Pleasant was a first-time
offender, and met the standards for the program, his conviction
was for a violent offense — aggravated assault on a police
officer. Program eligibility must be reviewed closely.
Calcasieu’s program is small — it includes just two dozen prisoners — which should make it somewhat manageable. Small or not,
though, participants are prisoners and there are no ironclad guarantees that things won’t go wrong.
Mancuso believes in the good effects of
the Transitional Work Program. Those good effects are real when the
program runs well.
The sheriff’s review of the program, especially in light of Ms.
Grosse’s death, should be comprehensive and continuing. The
good of the program and the safety of the public depend on it.
• • •
This editorial was written by a member of the American Press Editorial Board. Its content reflects the collaborative opinion of the Board, whose members include Bobby Dower, Ken Stickney,
Jim Beam, Crystal Stevenson and Donna Price.