Prisons Commissioner Sterling Stewart says the nation’s prisons are on high alert in light of the recent terror threats made against malls and rumours of another jail break in the near future.
Stewart was speaking yesterday at the promotion ceremony in which 39 prisons officers were promoted from the rank Prisons Officers 1 to the rank of Prisons Officers 2 at the Prisons Training College in Arima.
“I told them to be on the alert, moreso because with all these rumours. We have beefed up security with a unit and we are getting the support of the police and army, especially at the Maximum Security Prison. We don’t know what is going to happen. We have to prepare and we have been planning.”
He said they had been seeking reliable information and did not base decisions on rumours.
“We remain on the alert and all my officers have been informed and an extra effort is being made in all the prisons,” he said.
When questioned about recent reports that six police officers reportedly attempted to sneak a high-profile inmate to court without approval, Stewart said official documentation must be presented before inmates are removed from the prison.
“There are always rumours of a jail break and we discuss it in every meeting. They will want to come out of the prison but it is our job to hold them there until they go to court and are proven innocent or guilty.”
Stewart said officers should champion character and not participate in foolishness, folly and whispers. Adding that officers must be professional. He said the Prisons Commissioner was entitled to move any officer to any other prison.
Last week, officers decided to stay away from work while others attempted to support their colleagues who were transferred to other departments at the nation’s prisons.
Officers said four officers from the Port-of-Spain State Prison were recently transferred from the morning shift after the phone number of a senior prisons officer was found on the contacts list of a phone of an inmate at the Port-of-Spain jail.