Give ex-inmates a second chance

For over three decades, Dennis Pulchan has witnessed first-hand the transformation of the prison service in TT.

In that time, he has also seen the transformation of society and lamented that while much has changed, attitudes and perceptions towards prisoners remain the same.

Pulchan, who was announced as the new acting Prison Commissioner recently, has interacted with some of TT prison’s most infamous guests from convicted drug kingpin Nankissoon “Dole Chadee” Boodram and leader of the Jamaat al-Muslimeen Imam Yasin Abu Bakr in his 36-year-long career as a prison officer.

Sunday Newsday spoke with Pulchan at his Phillip Street, Port of Spain, office about the challenges he faces as Commissioner, his thoughts on prison reform and what he intends to achieve during the short time he will hold office. He is scheduled to retire in two years.

In 1983, Pulchan’s career as a prison officer started. It came from his need to support himself rather than lofty ideals of rehabilitating criminals.

Back then, he applied to both the police and the prison service. Pulchan said it was fate that caused him to enter his prison service.

“They (the prison service) were the first one to call me back. I went into it with the idea that this was a government job and I could earn a living from it. I didn’t think much of what it would entail and the sense of duty behind it,” Pulchan said.

During his time as a prison officer, Pulchan has learned some valuable lessons on human nature and psychology. He said prison officers must learn to take charge of inmates not through force, but by respecting them and acknowledging them as human beings.

“Our prison officers have to earn the respect of their inmates in order to command them. It’s not something you can do because you wear a uniform. People have to know that you care about them in order for them to obey you. Sometimes officers may have to move the prisoners and your interaction with them determines how they move and when they move.”

Be a mentor, not an antagonist

Citing the peaceful resolution of a 2006 prison riot at the Port of Spain prison, Pulchan said control was restored not by teams of riot police but by a junior prison officer who convinced the inmates to put down their make-shift weapons and return to their cells.

From interactions like these, Pulchan emphasised the need for prison officers to take on a greater role as a mentor and a facilitator rather than an antagonist.

One day, Pulchan had his own opportunity to make a difference in the life of an inmate when he interacted with a then-teenaged Wayne Chance, whom he described as a violent inmate during the first half of his incarceration.

“He was always getting into fights and scrapes with the other inmates. We had to lock him down in his cell a few times because of the trouble but gradually over time I saw a change in his attitude and behaviour.

“Eventually, one day he approached me and asked if he could start preaching to the other inmates. I knew he was a fighter and I wasn’t sure of what I should do. I asked him if he was sure and I told him I didn’t want him getting into any fights with anyone, but I trusted him and he began counselling them and preaching to them. He helped others and I think in a lot of ways he helped himself by doing that. If I just ordered him to go back to his cell things could have turned out differently.”

Chance went on to form Vision on Mission after serving his sentence, an organisation which helps prisoners and returning criminal deportees re-enter society. Chance died last year.

The importance of developing this trust is compounded by giving inmates the tools they need to not only cope with their incarceration but also to develop themselves and improve their lives.

He said he hopes that rehabilitation programmes assume greater focus from the government in the future as he believes such programmes can drastically reduce rates of recidivism.

“It is said that prison is a university and that is true. I have seen people come in here as a nobody and climb the ranks of the underworld to become a formidable inmate.

“If we were to tap into the potential of these young people and have a training programme for remanded inmates, we can turn around a lot of thinking in a more positive direction for nation-building.”

Employers should give ex-inmates a fair chance

Pulchan said roughly 75 per cent of the 4,057 remand inmates are below the age of 30.

Many of these inmates he says will one day return to society and urged society and prospective employers to give them a second chance once they have repaid their debts.

“I would love to see the stereotyping of potential employers towards former inmates stop. Today a young man will come and do all the programmes in the prison service and he will get top grades. He will leave our prison full of confidence and hope, only for the employer to reject him because of his past. What is he to do then?”

He says while some business owners have partnered with the prison service to offer former inmates a chance at redemption, these attitudes still persist.

While optimism is needed, the dangerous realities of prison has not been lost on Pulchan as he attempts to address concerns of prison officers and their safety both on and off the compound during his term in office.

Pulchan admits that more prison officers have been murdered in recent times compared to when he began as an officer but did not believe the solution was arming officers.

“The prison service does not give away firearms freely. We have a responsibility to ensure that people are equipped with those items in accordance with the threat level posed to them

“I would not give any officer a firearm. I will select officers who have a genuine threat level against them because I need my officers to be comfortable to do their jobs to serve the prison service.”

He said those who have been murdered over the years would have been officers who stood in the way of powerful inmates who sought to continue their trade from behind bars.

Pulchan himself is no stranger to the risks of being a prison officer. Just one year after the attempted coup in 1990, he recalls being assaulted by a member of the Jamaat al-Muslimeen while standing guard at the Chaguaramas District Prison.

He said he was hit in the face with an iron gate by one of the inmates. He was injured in his face, which led to him being away from work for 11 weeks.

The incident did not deter Pulchan who encourages other officers not to let be shaken by the dangers of their job.

To minimise the risks to prison officers and other inmates, Pulchan said a specially trained team of prison officers in the remand facilities interview new prisoners to determine whether they are members or associates of gangs.

These inmates are located to different prisons or different parts of the same prison to minimise confrontation with rivals.

“We’ve been doing it successfully so far. Sometimes we need to move prisoners from one division to another to improve supervision; when we do this we separate the gangs. Even when we bring the prisoners out for recreation, there are certain groups we allow out at certain times.”

Cases must be determined swifter

Responding to calls from Police Commissioner Gary Griffith to deny bail to repeat firearm offenders, Pulchan said he felt that keeping offenders behind bars could help with the police investigations.

But it must be supported by smooth processing of cases at the courts to be effective, he said.

“I would love to see the criminal justice system kick into high gear so that we have a comparative conviction rate. I would like to see cases done faster so even though we’re holding people beyond the 28 days, at least we can have some success at the courts because 65 per cent of our prison population are remanded inmates, so things like night court could greatly help our situation.”

The challenge with the prison service has been to secure inmates by preventing them from receiving items that could be harmful to themselves or others. This is particularly challenging because of the resourcefulness of some inmates who now have connections with errant prison officers.

Pulchan said during his days as a junior officer, cigarettes were the biggest problems facing the authorities, but today cellphones have taken their place.

“In the hands of a prisoner, the cellphone is just as dangerous as a gun. Granted they may not always be used for nefarious purposes; sometimes they want one to be able to keep in touch with their families. It’s a really important part of their lives.”

In recognising this need to remain connected to families at home, Pulchan realises that the issue of cellphones will not go away unless the prison has an alternative. There are plans to have video calling available at prison libraries which Pulchan hopes will reduce the demand for cellphones behind bars.

Pulchan also commented on the high turnover of prison commissioners. He said recently commissioners tend to last only two years. He succeeded Dane Clarke and Gerald Wilson.

A recent review of the system by the Public Service Commission hopes to offer training to younger officers allowing them to climb the ranks of the service sooner giving them enough time to serve.

“This new system will have a commissioner for at least five years. It has to do with the promotion of officers over the years. What we have seen happening now is how we approach promotions. We have a situation where the service commission is trying to implement a programme where people with potential are exposed to more training.”

While dealing with the prison service’s human resource is an essential part of proper management, Pulchan said he is also aware of the need to improve the physical infrastructure.

Commenting on the need to upgrade dilapidated facilities across the country, he said there have been some small improvements to the quality of life behind bars thanks to recent renovations and hopes new projects will better equip the service. “The Port of Spain prison is well over 100-years-old and is in dire need of repairs. We are repairing as much as we can and we are trying to bring prisons to an acceptable standard.

“It is not an easy task that one has to champion for the budget and where we are dependent on releases. Nevertheless, we have increased considerably the conditions inmates face and we believe the new remand prison at Golden Grove will relieve some of our problems.”