The Guyana Prisons Service will soon have a Special Response Team to deal with disturbances like the one that led to 17 deaths at the Camp Street penitentiary on March 3rd.
This was disclosed by Minister of Public Security, Khemraj Ramjattan in an interview with the Government Information Agency (GINA). He said that the unit would have the capacity to handle any problems that may arise in the future in the prisons.
Noting that the Special Response Team would not have to depend on the Police Force for support, Ramjattan told GINA that the new team of highly trained ranks would be able to make better judgment calls and be prepared to enforce discipline among inmates.
Acknowledging that the present training of prison officers was, “not of the best”, Ramjattan has now mandated that all recruits in to the Prison Service undergo training at the Guyana Police Force’s training schools.
“It is not enough, they need lots more training and we want better recruits and so on,” Ramjattan said.
In addition, he said that the Government is looking at ways to improve the salaries and conditions of work at the Guyana Prison Service in a bid to attract and keep skilled personnel.
“Our prisons are tough places to work and sometimes the more quality people do not want to go there,” Ramjattan told GINA.
Referring to the March 3rd tragedy, the minister said, “If we don’t start investing in better recruits, their accommodation, their allowances, their salaries and all of that, we might have lots more riots on our hands, which will cost (us) in the long term, lots more.”
GINA said that the Government is taking advantage of the offers made by several international partners and agencies to train law enforcement officials here and overseas. Several officers of the Guyana Prison Service have left Guyana for the United States, to participate in the 18th Annual Mock Prison Riots, at the decommissioned West Virginia State Prison in Moundsville.
The Mock Prison Riot Training programme which was started in 1997, offers Prison Officers from around the world training where they learn the latest techniques and methods used to quell prison disturbances.
GINA said that local law enforcement ranks are also being trained in other jurisdictions as part of the Government’s plans to further build their capacity.
