SLAP helps with clean-up at college

Newton — Members of the Sussex County Sheriff’s Labor Assistance Program (SLAP) were recently on the campus of Sussex County Community College to help with spring clean-up. SLAP was created by Sussex County Sheriff Robert E. Untig in 1994 to serve as an alternative to Sussex County inmates being incarcerated. Instead of sitting in the correctional facility, persons convicted of crimes are given the alternative of performing community service. Inmates must apply to the program and sentencing is left to the discretion of the judge, with approval from the municipal or county prosecutor. If accepted, inmates work on projects for county communities and non-profit organizations which include road, school, park and cemetery clean-ups and painting, as well as set-up and dismantling for community events. The program also participates in Adopt-A-Highway efforts cleaning the shoulders of county roads. “We have used SLAP for specific projects such as construction of the bookstore. They moved gravel, laid sod and removed debris as we also converted a parking lot near the bookstore into a common area for students,” said Ray Castellani, project engineer at SCCC. SLAP has also helped with fall leaf raking and the cleaning out of the college chapel.