Attorney, former policeman appointed Inspector of Prisons

Attorney and former policeman Cedric Neptune has been appointed the new Inspector of Prisons.

His appointment was announced at a media conference at the Ministry of National Security, Abercromby Street, Port of Spain on Monday.

Neptune also served as inspector from 2017 to 2019.

He will be responsible for giving an objective assessment on the quality of life in the nation's prisons and adjudicating on issues where prisoners are accused of committing crimes while in custody.

Responding to Newsday's questions on his goals, Neptune said there were several issues he hoped to address. These include overseeing the transformation of his office to one that is prepared to deal with all matters in a timely, efficient manner.

"I think the most fundamental issue for me, having had some very brief discussions with the minister, is to really reform the role of the Inspector of Prisons to make it a little more relevant to the 21st century.

"The Inspector of Prisons has a history that is decades old and it was crafted at a time when the prison service had only one prison facility. We're now in an environment where we have ten facilities with over 3000 prisoners, probably 65 per cent of which are remand prisoners which has it's own dynamics.

"The Inspector of Prisons, in this environment, is required to respond to judicial review matters, letters from the Ombudsman, or Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests. The dynamics in the configuration of the office has to be, in my respectful view, reconsidered or re-engineered to the extent that it can be done in two years."

Commenting on the appointment, Prisons Commissioner Dennis Pulchan said he was pleased. He said the Inspector of Prisons was an office which offers inmates an unbiased voice and maintains the integrity of the prison system.

For his part National Security Minister Fitzgerald Hinds said Neptune's qualifactions made him one of the best suited candidates for the position, and was impressed by his ideas during recent discussions.