Dear Editor,
The recent prison breakout at Mazaruni Prison should not come as a surprise to the powers that be as they were fully aware that the prison service does not have the capacity, lacks the human and financial resources to prevent such occurrences. The prison administration has been virtually on its knees seeking a new prison, better rehabilitation facilities and more funding.
There has been talk of improving the Criminal Justice System but as far as can be seen this seems to extend only to the courts and the police. The police have been given fleets upon fleets of vehicles, new police stations etc. What resources have been directed towards the prison which is the most important and vulnerable component of the criminal justice system? The prisons should be given priority for funding as correction becomes the measure of the criminal justice system because it is from this system that convicted offenders are released to society again as free citizens. The successful adjustments or the new crimes committed by these people determine the success and failure of the criminal justice system, yet there is a tendency for each phase of the system – law enforcement, the courts and corrections to envision themselves as self-contained units.
The fragmented jurisdictions of most criminal justice ‘systems’ has resulted in dissipated efforts, cross purposes and ineffective results.
Some of the problems of ‘systemization’ are greater in corrections than in the other two phases. First, many prisons around the world are located in remote areas, built like fortresses and tend to isolate the staff from the mainstream of society.
The multiplicity of objectives by various corrections facilities promotes fragmentation. Some phases emphasise custody, some want revenge or ‘retributive justice’ in the Mosaic tradition and some focus on case work counselling and psychotherapy.
Outside pressures of public and political opinion further complicate the ‘systemization’ of the criminal justice system. Police, the courts and correctional administrations are judged by arrests, convictions and preventing escapes rather than any therapeutic socialization process. Social and personal ‘security’ is translated into the security of the secured yet approximately 95-97% of all incarcerated offenders are released to society again after an average period of 21 months. Consequently the emphasis on security may be self-defeating. The heavy case load in all phases of corrections adds to the ineffectiveness of the criminal justice system by making them correctional personnel case processors, rather than case workers and counsellors.
I urge the honourable Minister of Home Affairs Mr. Rohee to immediately make the necessary resources financial and otherwise available to the prisons. Failing this, honourable Sir, the four walls of the Georgetown prison will soon come tumbling down with heavy casualties for inmates, police, prison officers and innocent civilians. Georgetown prison, Sir, is a time bomb waiting to explode.
Yours faithfully,
Robert Gates
