Seales: Police at prison necessary

President of the TT Police Service Social Welfare Association (TTPSSWA) Insp Michael Seales said the decision to have police officers at the prison was legal and necessary. He said this was done to ensure law and order after the death of acting prisons Supt Wayne Jackson.

Speaking with Newsday this afternoon , Seales sought to clarify the roles of the police at the prison.

He said they were not involved in the management of the prison population, but are there to secure the facility and maintain order from external elements.

He said the police assigned to the prison were not expected to fill the roles of prison officers, and said this is the first time an exercise of this nature was introduced in TT to disrupt the illegal drug trade from inside the prison.

Contacted for comment acting Commissioner of Prisons Dane Clarke said the police assigned to the prison do not have any interaction with the inmates.