Prisoners to Join Search For Escapees

Governor Cuomo

Dannemora  - Governor Andrew Cuomo today announced that trustee prisoners from the Clinton County penitentiary will join state and local police in searching for the escapees from that facility.  

"The use of trustee prisoners to aid in the search for Richard Matt and David Sweat makes sense", Cuomo said.  "The police and volunteers that have been tracking Mr. Matt and Mr. Sweat are now dog tired and could use a rest.  The trustee prisoners are rested, fit as a fiddle, and would enjoy a few days out in the fresh Adirondack air.  Also, they could certainly identify the escapees, with whom they have socialized for several years." The trustee prisoner searchers will be paid forty cents an hour and camp out in tents provided by the National Guard.  

Escapees Matt & Sweat

When asked by this reporter whether the prisoners who would be used in the search might not themselves run away, Governor Cuomo discounted that possibility.  "The warden has assured me that these men that will be utilized in the search are completely loyal and trustworthy.  That is why they are called 'trustees'".

Instead of prison garb, the new searchers will wear military-style camouflage outfits that will distinguish them from regular police officers. Distinguished arm patches are being designed which will feature the New York State seal in the center, and the words "Trustee Searcher" in a surrounding ring.  "Cool weather gear is being put out for bid, since the search is expected to continue into fall and possibly winter," a spokesman for the New York State Office of General Services said.