By Glenroy Sinclair,
Staff Reporter
DAILY LIFE is like living hell say several ex-policemen serving time in prison.
"If you try to behave like you are not a part of them (harden criminals), they will hurt you. It is for you to know how to move," said 51-year-old Willard Collins, an ex-policeman whose death sentence has been commuted to life.
Mr. Collins said he survived a number of violent attacks during the 1997 prison riot at the General Penitentiary, where 14 inmates, including an ex-policeman were killed.
Apart from having to live with the constant fear of being attacked by inmates, in some cases the ex-policemen are totally forgotten by their relatives and former colleagues.
Some of them are now being attended to by Food for the Poor, which is involved in a programme to help them in the rehabilitation process and also help those to whom it applies, re-start their life at the end of their sentence.
"We will help them in whatever way we can, but the request for assistance must come from the superintendent in charge of the respective institution, explained Lawrence Madden, operations manager for Food for the Poor.
Responding to questions about what assistance the Police Federation could offer, its chairman, Merrick Watson, said there was a limit to how far the organisation could go.
Inspector Watson said he was not aware of any of those ex-policemen who have approach the federation for assistance or the federation offering any assistance.
He said when a member commit themselves, the federation will assist them up to the point when they appeal. In the case of Mr. Collins, he served in the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) for two years before enlisting in the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) in 1970 - the same year Police Commissioner Francis Forbes joined the police force.
"Most of the senior officers in the police force today were my 'squaddies'," said Mr. Collins, who has been in prison since 1983. November 1992 was one of the brightest moment in his life however. It was the month his death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment.
Apart from Mr. Collins, there is another ex-policeman who is from St. Mary who requested that his name be withheld. He has been incarcerated for eight months on charges of assault.
He is eligible for parole in another five months and presently Food for the Poor is processing his request to provide a small house and grocery shop for him to re-start life.
