Outrage over prisons officer's murder

Prisons Officers Association president Ceron Richards blames failure of the criminal justice system for the murder of prisons officer Sherwin Francis on Friday.

Francis, 48, was shot at about 6.15 pm, while having dinner at his Oasis Greens, Chaguanas home, by three men who knocked on his door and barged in when he opened it. He died while being treated at the Chaguanas health facility.

Richards told Sunday Newsday, for years the association has been calling on the relevant authorities to implement laws and infrastructure to ensure that prisons officers would not be easy targets for angry inmates. Those calls, he said, have gone unanswered.

“They want to blame the prisons officers for their own demise. Blame the lame judiciary and the systemic failure for it. The Chief Justice is happy, the Attorney General is happy, other agents are happy while the prisons officers face the brunt of a failed criminal justice system.”

In a Facebook post, the association's public relations officer Gerard Gordon said Francis' killing angered him as he has witnessed at least one officer murdered each year during his 22 years in the service.

"My mind wouldn't allow me to rest. Not because of fear, but because of anger. There are just about 3,400 prisons officers in TT. We have almost 4000 prisoners both convicted and remanded alike. Sherwin Francis was hunted and shot allegedly 31 times in his home because he did the job the way all of us suppose to do the job. They think by killing us the job will not be done?"

Sunday Newsday also spoke with acting Prisons Commissioner Dennis Pulchan who believes Francis was murdered because he seized a cellphone from an inmate recently.

“The inmate told him that he will kill him. My officers are being hunted. I have some of my officers who were part of that raid under surveillance. These young men who did this, and the information we have is that they are misguided young people. We are leaving no stone unturned to bring them to justice.”

Richards said his officers are “exposed to the elements” both in and outside the prisons and the State does not recognise it.

“We continue to be the aftermath of neglect. There is no alarm at the maximum security prison. It is as if the State doesn’t care. The State is yet to respond in a meaningful way to our calls for protection. What about the Law Enforcement Safety Act? What about a committed space for remand prisoners because it is in the remand that we have this entire problem.”

In response, National Security Minister Stuart Young said the prisons service continues to be prioritised. He said guns and stab-proof vests are being sourced for prisons officers while a multi-agency approach has been implemented to assist the prison service.

“The remand at Golden Grove is currently being renovated, upgraded and updated to more modern facilities. This Government is spending significant sums of money to improve the remand. We are upgrading many other facilities and assets designed to improve security at the Golden Grove and the maximum security prisons. Legislation was also passed to increase the penalties for persons who target prisons officers. The Prisons Service will continue to be prioritised.”

In 2015, a prisoner wrote to then justice minister Prakash Ramadhar complaining of the conditions in the prison and the treatment received by officers. In the letter, the inmate said he witnessed Francis assault an inmate on May 5 of that year. The letter stated that the beating was done by Francis and three other officers who were upset that the inmate, a day earlier, cursed another prisons officer.

When told of this, Pulchan said he knew Francis since he joined the service 25 years ago. Francis, he said, was a straightforward officer with a stickler for the rules.

He thanked his comrades across the national security network who, he said, have all come together to help as the service mourns and police search for the killers.