‘Turnkeys’ under watch

A TOUGH-TALKING Prisons Commissioner Gerard Wilson yesterday sent a strong warning to rogue prison officers, especially those at the Maximum Security Prison (MSP): all are being kept under close watch, so think twice before trying to smuggle contraband inside.

Wilson said two prison officers were held on Thursday night at MSP, bringing to 14 the number of officers arrested and charged for smuggling contraband into the prison system this year. He said, “I would advise rogue officers to think twice about trying to beat the system, because we are prepared to get rid of every rogue officer. That is our mantra going into 2019...to get rid of every rogue officer.”

Wilson said the MSP at Golden Grove, Arouca, has been deemed the prison where most smuggling takes place and as a result, intelligence-gathering to weed out the culprits is focused there.

On Thursday at 5 pm, two prison officers with several years of service were held with packets of cigarettes and cell phones. They were handed over to Arouca police.

“I have officers under the radar at all prisons. They know themselves and they will be found, flushed out and I hope they never get the opportunity to come back,” Wilson said. “In the past, officers were arrested, won their matters in tribunals and returned to the system only to continue to traffic in illicit items. This has to stop.”

Wilson noted that earlier this year, a prison officer was arrested for smuggling contraband, won in court and returned to work. This same officer, Wilson said, was rearrested and is now before the courts once again. facing a new smuggling charge.

Wilson said his hands remain tied when rogue officers return to the system after winning in the courts and he wants lawmakers to look into this issue to prevent the system from protecting the very same rogue officers via technicalities. “It is easy for the public to make statements, but I have said that no commissioner, whether past, present or future, is going to encourage officers to behave in a manner as to embarrass the prison service. We keep trying, doing a number of things to try to get rid of these rogues. We have been having some successes recently.”

Asked about reports that officers are using drones to drop contraband items into prison yards, Wilson said, “I have heard of drones being used, but it was never officially reported to me.”