National Security Minister: Prisons in good hands

Minister of National Security Fitzgerald Hinds has said the prison service is in good hands after officers put on a personal protection display at the Golden Grove parade square, Arouca on Tuesday.

This was done during the passing-out parade and induction ceremony for 237 new recruits.

Hinds said he was very impressed with the display.

“I leave here with a sense of confidence that when there is an emergency situation in these precincts, and there must in the future again, you are in a position with the training imbued in you to respond in accordance with the law, Constitution, and instructions as delivered to you by those who lead the operation. We are satisfied you are up to the task.”

He said the training will ensure that inmates conduct themselves within the remit of the law and, if they don’t, officers are equipped to handle it.

In November 2021, two prison officers were killed within days of each other.

Trevor Serette was killed at his fruit stall in Valencia, and Nigel Jones was gunned down in front his infant daughter at the Fyzabad taxi stand in Siparia.

The Wayne Jackson Building, named after a senior prison officer who was murdered outside his home in 2018, is used to house high-profile inmates.

After the incidents, officers had refused to work in the building as inmates had threatened that more would die.

Hinds also said the Interception of Communications Amendment Bill, 2020 allows for the interception and recording of communications from prisons facilities and vehicles used to transport prisoners as evidence in court proceedings.

“This piece of legislation will not only serve as a deterrent to criminal activity, but it is also an important tool in the fight against crime and criminality as it relates to third-party involvement external to inmates

“Our experience has been that many such communications before the passage of this law went unattended. Fully proclaimed and operational, use it to your advantage. Use it in the protection and the safety of people of TT. Let it not be used to our detriment.”

He said a new alarm system was installed at the Golden Grove prison and efforts are being made to have a similar system installed at the prison in Port of Spain.