We recently visited the Imperial Regional Detention Facility (IRDF) in Calexico, California, where we invited the administration to select a video story for us to cover. Of all the positive topics and successes at the facility, they requested a profile on their maintenance department.

Edward Ruiz is the assistant facility administrator. “With the crew they have and the supervisor they have,” he says, “they have done nothing but outstanding work. It’s been excellent. They’re always on top of things. They don’t miss any deadlines. They communicate well with the administration, along with department heads.”

Rudy Hernandez is the maintenance department supervisor. He recognizes the department’s responsibilities are vast. “From landscaping to our generators to our pump houses, everything. Anything that is needed maintenance-wise, our department takes care of it.”
“And it doesn’t just have to be maintenance related,” explains Facility Administrator William DeRevere. “They’re willing to do whatever is necessary to get the job done for the betterment of the team here at IRDF.”“They manage to get the job done no matter what time it is” Edward states. “They get called in the middle of the night, over the weekend. They come down, and they fix it because they care.”
“The support that I have received from this administration,” says Rudy, “this facility administration – you’re only able to go as far as you’re allowed to go. The support we receive from them to get the job done is awesome. So, that’s an important factor for the success in, I believe, any department.”

The maintenance department’s success also includes the facility’s other departments. Administrator DeRevere agrees. “If maintenance is in need,” he says, “then people are willing to step up and help them out because they do so much for everybody else. I’m grateful to have the team that we have here, you know, not just in maintenance, but the entire IRDF team. That’s really what it is. It’s not a group of employees or individual departments. It’s a team and it’s a family. And I’m blessed to be here with this group.”