Prison officers may be part of the problem at T&T’s prisons.
A south Trinidad man serving a 12-year sentence said he was told by a prison officer not to tell his mother he was depressed and to write her “happy thoughts”. He was told not to show emotion when she died and was “blown off” by an officer when he sought to use the prison library.
Former inmate Dane Manickchand recounted these experiences to a Joint Select Committee (JSC) on Social Services and Public Administration yesterday. The meeting focused on challenges with the reintegration of ex-prisoners into society.
Prison welfare officer Alloy Yuksee admitted officers still “have a way to go” with their mindsets and said he would like to see a shift.
However, JSC chairman Paul Richards said this would not occur until officers changed their mindset from viewing a facility as a prison to seeing it as a correctional facility. Richards said prison officers seemed to be part of the problem and there was an opportunity for them to influence different mindsets in prison.
Prison Officers’ Association (POA) president Ceron Richards said the mindset of citizens was retributive rather than restorative and to change the mindset of officers, everyone in T&T would have to change.
Manickchand, who was released from the Carrera Island Prison nine years ago, said prison policy was inconsistently enforced by officers.
“Once when I’d tried to use the prison library, the officer asked if I didn’t think about using it when I was outside. When I wrote to my mother that I was depressed in jail, it was suppressed and I was told to write happy thoughts. When she died, an officer told me to not show emotion and cry lest something started.
“I see now where prisons are seeking psychologists and I wondered who all the inmates with anger management and other issues had to talk to before this,” he said.
Manickchand said he could not access certain training programmes in jail.
Reformed former inmate Richard La Croix, who is now in a prison ministry, said he was jailed 14 times on drugs and larceny charges and conditions during his incarceration were less developed.
“But now officers aren’t comfortable dealing with inmates. They’re ill-minded, sick, some are frustrated and can’t wait to retire. Officers and inmates are both on edge,” he said, adding that nothing was being done by Government to improve the working environment
POA’s Richards said he supported the Attorney General’s efforts to abolish preliminary inquiries as the long wait caused frustration.
“Some inmates waiting six years for PIs. It’s cruel punishment, so inmates are frustrated and unsettled. Most serious incidents in Remand Yard occur because of these things,” he said.
Lester Walcott, of the POA, said attempts are being made to teach young officers to shift from retributive to restorative mode but retraining is needed.
Pastor Wilma Kelly, of New Hope Prison Ministry, said to stop crime, the prison system must be dealt with. She deplored prison conditions, noting that some prisoners have to urinate outside of the cell door.
“We’re trying to rehabilitate people who’re in a dump,” she said.
Former inmate Richard Barker, a colourful character, said he served time in Carrera from 1975 for robbery with aggravation and received cat ‘o nine strokes. He claimed he was a victim of a “frame case” but didn’t deny he did crime. He said his time was “totally different” to now and prisoners and officers are “very uneducated.”