Bob's Garage helping Hillsborough County Jail inmates find a better path

TAMPA, Fla. - FOX 13 was granted rare access to "Bob’s Garage" inside Hillsborough County Jail, where seasoned-instructor Bob Ruggiero teaches inmates Mechanics 101.

To call this simply a shop class would be missing the bigger picture.

"It is taking young people like myself back into the community be able to work and give back instead of creating a repetitive path of criminal behavior," shared inmate, Zachary Owens.

Inmates learn valuable skills that will help them stay out of legal trouble.

Beginning in 2020, the Hillsborough Sheriff's Office started offering vocational training for qualifying inmates. Programs include things like welding classes and forklift operation.

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In the automotive program, students can earn up to 10 ASE certifications, an industry standard during the 6-week course.   

"When they leave, some leave with many ASE certifications, the sky's the limit pretty much," said Ruggiero. "Industries are looking for any trades so there's plenty of jobs," he added.

Bob's Garage is an automotive program for inmates.

Thus far, the programs have already graduated hundreds of inmates. In fact, more than 200 inmates have completed the auto-shop program alone, earning nearly 450 ASE certifications.

"To watch these students succeed, passing ASE exams is really rewarding," Ruggiero explained.

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Perhaps even more important, the sheriff said fewer than 10% of the graduates go on to re-offend.

Many of the graduates don't re-offend after participating in the program.

"These are individuals that say, ‘I’m gonna be better be different, and I want to be the person that I want to be for my loved ones’ and that’s who see behind me today," said Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister. 

For the sheriff, these programs make sense not just morally, but financially as well. They're fully paid for through the proceeds of inmate canteen purchases, meaning the cost to the taxpayer is nothing.

"I take that money and put that money back into help inmates, this is truly inmates helping inmates," he said.