As the state of emergency (SoE) enters Day 21, prison overcrowding continues to be a problem at places like The Remand Yard in Port-of-Spain and at Golden Grove, Arouca. A member of the Prisons Officers Association said there are now more than 1,400 inmates at the facility which has a capacity to accommodate 1,100 inmates. Police sources said cells at police stations and substations throughout the East/West corridor and Port-of-Spain were packed to capacity with detainees. A prison officer who wished to remain anonymous blamed the upsurge in detainees on the proliferation of America's "pop culture".
The officer also noted some law abiding citizens were imitating gangs-via fashion, tattoos and body language. "The inmates have to be reclassified. Overcrowding is not the issue." The officer said: "The pop culture is responsible for a lot of detainees and wrongful arrests. It's not based on intelligence. A lot of locals are finding themselves in hot water. "Normal people are imitating the pop artistes. They like the fashion. Hence, they are being picked up for their attire. Our society has become such a copy cat society."
Imitating gangs
The officer also noted while there were bloodthirsty gangs whose modus operandi included committing murder, rapes, kidnappings and treason, there were citizens who were simply imitating a gang's style, speech and body language. They were not perpetrators. The officer said: "The local Blood Gangs and the Trips have the symbols, tattoos and fashion. The G-Unit down here is familiar with artiste 50cent. I know the G-Unit gang would use the clothes and tattoos of 50cent. They are criminals." On the flip side, the officer said: "Normal people going about their business are mimicking rap artiste 50cent. They are landing themselves in trouble with the law."
Target the schools
The officer observed the gang culture had penetrated the schools. It begged the need for intervention and programmes geared toward preventing and alleviating youth delinquency. The officer said: "In one high school, the students were imitating two rival Jamaican gangs. One side was the Gaza and the other side was the Gully. Our copycat society is going the wrong way." He noted gang leaders and members were recruiting school children. "A lot of these fellas are lured into a life of crime while going to school. We need to look at the Youth Training Centre. A number of young people are being roped into gangs and the authorities are not addressing it."
State of emergency a "temporary solution"
While admitting the SoE did have advantages like dismantling gangs and locating caches of guns, the officer said it was a temporary solution. Using the analogy of a "dead and decaying carcass," the officer said: "If you spray products like Lysol and Febreze, it would temporarily remove the stench." But he warned crime was real. "We cannot turn a blind eye to its existence." Echoing a prevailing sentiment, the officer said: "There is nobody in Beetham who could bring in that number of guns, drugs or manage 400 to 500 gang members. You would need mass financing to network $22 million in drugs."
The officer said some prisoners, gang members and law breakers welcomed the SoE because they were safer in prison. Zeroing on the "lifers," the officer said: "They have families out there. They are aware a rival gang member might attack a loved one and they can't defend them. They would rather know gang members are inside and their family is safe outside."
Sandy: We are doing positive things
Commenting on the state of overcrowding, National Security Minister John Sandy said: "The Ministry has been doing a number of positive things. The Father's Fair is an example.
"We have established a new prison at Santa Rosa. It is better than Golden Grove. We have some of the best attorneys to take care of wrongful detainees so everybody would be treated fairly."
