PHILLIPS
NATIONAL SECURITY Minister Dr. Peter Phillips says his ministry is reviewing a proposal to ensure police lock-ups are staffed with correctional officers in order to safeguard prisoners in custody.
Responding to questions raised at the Police Officers Association annual general meeting last week, he said the issue should have been addressed long ago.
"The truth is ... you can't close down all the lock-ups, and there is only so much space at the Horizon (Remand) facility and the other facilities, so it is still an issue that we have to find an adequate solution for," Dr. Phillips said.
Senior Superintendent of Police Harry Daley, who is in charge of the St. Catherine North Division and who raised the issue, said lock-ups were bursting at the seams because they did not have trained personnel to ensure the safe custody of prisoners after they went before the courts.
SSP Daley said that policing in Spanish Town would be more effective if police officers were not tied down by duties in lock-ups.
MORE STREET PATROLS NEEDED
"I need much, much more police personnel to be on the road to suppress crime and ease the fear of crime, and if I can find some of the people employed in offices and who are tied down with guarding prisoners, then I would be much more able to have more people out on the streets," he said.
SSP Newton Amos, who heads the South St. Andrew Division, said that the problem affects police lock-ups across the island. He said once a prisoner goes before the court, his custody should become the responsibility of the Minister of Justice, prison warders or a special auxiliary designed to deal with the issue.
