The following is a report dated January 30, 2002 sent to the police top brass by the Spanish Town police.
Report on overcrowding, faulty cell doors, damaged concrete walls at the Spanish Town Police lock-up - St. Catherine North division.
THE SPANISH Town Police lock-up, which has 10 cells and the capacity to accommodate 46 prisoners, now houses an average of 110 prisoners on a daily basis.
In August 2001, the extractor fan that is installed in the cells became defective and due to the unbearable heat, the prisoners were taken out of the cell and allowed to remain in the passages. During this time, the prisoners constantly banged the doors and removed some of the bolts.
The extractor fan was replaced in December, but to date, the prisoners have not been returned to their cells due to the faulty doors.
Cells number four and nine are without bolts. Cells number one, two, three, eight and 10 are warped.
The prisoners have also dug a hole in the top section of cell number 10, which is the last wall to the outside, and disguised it with a black scandal bag and a piece of brown card board. They have also dug a hole under the bunk of cell number seven.
Cell number seven still has a leaking underground and this continues to weaken the concrete.
The second main cell door leading to the guard room area from the cells has been ripped out of the wall and is hanging precariously.
The entire bottom section of the grills for the holding area where the prisoners are placed for cell search have rotted away and is unsafe.
The matter was reported to the officer in charge Detention and Courts on Friday January 25, 2002, by telephone, and Inspector Brown from that office came and inspected the cells. However, to date, nothing has been done to remedy this situation.
Majority of the prisoners are charged with murder and gun-related incidents and are considered to be dangerous.
The lives of the members of staff are constantly at risk and they have expressed their fears in working under the present conditions at the cell block.
The lock-up is extremely overcrowded and none of the lock-ups or Adult Correctional Centres are willing to assist in housing some of the prisoners.
While vigilance is stepped up with the perimeter patrols, it is difficult to prevent the prisoners from doing further damage to the inside structure of the cell block.
Unless this situation is remedied immediately there is no guarantee that we will not be faced with a major jailbreak or possible kidnapping or injury to our members of staff.
May this matter be given the most urgent attention.
Superintendent of Police
St. Catherine North
