Prison Association warns officers about 'elevated threats'

In an ominous warning posted to Facebook on January 10, the Prison Officers’ Association of TT wrote: "All members, please be on high alert. Information coming in is that a hefty bounty may have been placed on any member of the TT Prison Service."

Asked to clarify the message on January 11, Prison Officers’ Association president Gerard Gordon refrained from giving many details regarding the post but said, "Prison officers are always under threat, but within recent times, those threats have been elevated. I can't really say much besides that, but we have a responsibility to our members. Once we get that sort of information..."

He said owing to the nature of the job, prison officers do not live or operate like the average person for "obvious reasons." He emphasised that it is extremely important now for officers to be even more aware of their environment and surroundings and to be more vigilant as they go about their business.

Asked if the post was prompted by intelligence gathered during the state of emergency (SoE), Gordon confirmed this but chose not to comment further. He reiterated his call for officers to be equipped with guns to protect themselves while off-duty, an advocacy he said has been ongoing for "well over a decade."

Gordon said with the increased arrests targeting gang members during the SoE, the situation had become more concerning for officers, but he added, "The thing about it, for us, I mean, sad to say, but that is the nature of the beast."

He described the job as inherently dangerous and emphasised that with the SoE, it becomes even more dangerous.

On December 30, last year the state declared a state of emergency to suppress an elevated threat of gang violence. There have been several searches since the declaration where over 40 cellphones have been confiscated from high-risk prisoners at the Maximum Security Prison.

"We are usually forgotten, left out, and under-resourced. If there’s any time we require more support from the state to ensure we can successfully manage and deal with not only those increased numbers but those we already have, because it’s not a separate entity. It is my hope the necessary resources, which I know are being requested by our prison administration, come to us sooner rather than later."

On January 9, Gordon spoke with Newsday via phone, saying one major resource officers have been asking for is a new prison. He explained that officers have been using facilities that have "obviously outlived their usefulness, undermining our ability to maintain and improve public safety."

With the SoE in place, Gordon said at present, no prison in the country could ensure efficient and effective operations. He said officers were forced to use their "minuscule salaries" to purchase items and repair equipment to ensure effective operations at prisons.

Gordon said officers had also been begging for tools and equipment and claimed some security features in certain buildings were also not functioning properly.

"The body cameras that the police don't want to use give us. We want to use them!"

He also outlined the need for stab-proof and bulletproof vests, as well as uniforms, as some of the other equipment urgently needed by prison officers.