‘Prison reform — work as large as its problem’

Following statements last week from Junior Minister of National Security, Anthony Roberts that the Ministry intends to embark on the rehabilitation of prisoners, Sunday Newsday sought information as to just how urgently the prison system needs to be reformed. Indeed, what we found is that the government will have an even greater job on its hands, as prison reform will not be an overnight process, but one that will require very hard work and carefully laid plans. The majority of prison inmates are of African descent and about 30 percent of them are serving less than one year. The current recidivism (going back to prison) rate by the end of  2002 was 56 percent, a rate said to be much too high, hence the urgent need for the rehabilitation of prisoners. This according to a study done by independent senator, Professor Ramesh Deosaran, director of the Centre for Criminology and Criminal Justice in an exclusive interview with Sunday Newsday last week. 

In understanding prison reformation, the Centre embarked on phase two of a study titled — “Prison Recidivism: Towards Reduction, Rehabilitation and Reform.”
The following is data from the study on all convicted inmates, (a total of 4,449 inmates were examined) produced by the Centre for the period January to May 2002.
Proportion of Recidivists (persons who relapse into crime) versus First-timers:
a. 56 percent of the inmates were recidivists;
b. 39 percent of the inmates were in prison for the first time;
c. Five percent of the inmates had other status.
Age of Inmates —
a. 81 percent of all inmates were between 17-41 years;
b. 78 percent of recidivists were between the ages 17-41 years;
c. 85 percent of inmates in prison for the first time were between the ages 17-41 years.
Sex of Inmates —
a. 98 percent of all inmates were male and two percent were female;
b. Of all the male inmates in prison, 56 percent were recidivists;
c. Of all the female inmates in prison, 24 percent were recidivists.
Proportion of the various types of crimes committed by inmates overall:
a. The highest proportion of inmates in prison was there for narcotic offences (35 percent);
b. This was followed by larceny, housebreaking and breaking crimes/offences (27 percent);
c. Robbery was an additional eight percent;
d. Person-related crimes/offences accounted for ten percent — murder/manslaughter, rape, grievous bodily harm, assault, etc.
Proportion of the recidivists who committed various types of crimes:
a. 44 percent of recidivists committed larceny, robbery and housebreaking versus 26 percent of inmates in prison for the first time;
b. 38 percent of recidivists committed narcotic-related crimes/offences versus 37 percent of inmates in prison for the first time;
c. Six percent of recidivists committed person-related crimes versus 18 percent of inmates in prison for the first time.
Proportion of types of crimes committed by recidivists:
a. Of those inmates who committed narcotic offences, 59 percent were recidivists;
b. Of those inmates who committed larceny, breaking and housebreaking offences, 75 percent were recidivists;
c. Of those inmates who committed robbery offences, 53 percent were recidivists;
d. Of those inmates who committed person-related offences, 31 percent were recidivists.
Length of sentences of inmates:
a. 65 percent of all inmates were serving sentences of five years and less;
b. 70 percent of recidivists were serving sentences five years and less.
Ethnicity of Inmates
African — 61 percent
East Indian — 26 percent
Mixed — 13 percent
Less than one percent had other ethnic backgrounds.
Marital Status of Inmates
Single — 84 percent
Married — 15 percent
Other — 1 percent
Social Class of Inmates
Lower  — 97 percent
Middle — 2 percent
Upper — 0.3 percent
Unemployed/student/housewife/retired/pensioner — 0.7 percent

The need for rehabilitation and proper sentencing. Government needs to look at the problem of sentencing since there is a lot of room for non-custodial sentencing such as community service, especially for the younger age group 17 to 19. Ramesh Deosaran said this is one of the key areas the Ministry of National Security has to deal with, apart from the other problems of overcrowding and lack of effective rehabilitation. “When these young men enter prison at such a tender age, they become hardened criminals and repeated offenders and in TT, we have a rate of repeated offenders at 60 percent. When they come out, they end up going back in,” he said. He pointed out that the repeated offenders, when they go back into society, commit serious offences by as much as four and five times before they are convicted again. He said the same problem is happening with juvenile delinquency and the Youth Training Centre (YTC). He said when the young offenders come out of the YTC, they end up forming gangs and into a life of crime because they are not rehabilitated. “Therefore, prison rehabilitation should be a key priority, if government concentrates its efforts in rehabilitation, the serious crime rate, which is now approximately 17,000 would be reduced by as much as half the amount,” Deosaran said.

Speaking about the rehabilitation thrust, he recommended the introduction of more skills programmes for sustainable employment for prisoners when they come out of prison. He also appealed for the rejuvenation and refurbishment  of the prisons, saying that there are as many as six prisoners in one cell. “You can’t have six people to a cell, as is sometimes the case and expect their attitudes to the State or towards the society to be pleasant. Harsh, destitute conditions of  life, create very degrading minds,” he said. Deosaran pointed out that is why poverty in itself is such a horrific condition. He said another problem which is of growing concern, is that the prisons are disease-ridden, especially with HIV/ AIDS. Not only are the prisoners coming in the system with the virus but it is spreading because of homosexuality and raping of other male prisoners. He admitted that this is one of the most difficult problems to deal with because of the question of permanent supervision and subsequently, manpower. “When you put all the problems together, you see it is a very complex problem,” he said. Deosaran lamented that the remand yard system is just as harsh, even though it is for people who have not yet been convicted. Deosaran said government should look at the question of imprisonment of female prisoners, in terms of facilities and training programmes. As a result of the vastness of prison reform, he has also called on government to appoint a chairman to the sentencing commission and new commissioners to ensure that sentencing is fair and just. Deosaran was the former chairman and had to resign when he took up position as an independent senator. He said government was losing the battle against crime because they are putting too much emphasis on  punishment and law enforcement. “They have to look at the supply side and find out where  these criminals are coming from,” he said.

Deosaran said while government is moving in a positive step with its social sector programmes, this will take a few years before we begin to see its effects. He also suggested that the Ministry of National Security form a network with public administration to ensure a tighter co-ordination of the rehabilitation plans when they come on stream. As if the major prisons across the country weren’t  overcrowded enough, president of the Prison Officers Association, Claudius Gulston, said cats, mice and pigeons have been literally giving prison officers additional headaches. He was speaking to Sunday Newsday last week about some of the deplorable conditions at the prisons when he made the disclosure. “A prison officer can’t leave his lunch open or outside for long because it might be eaten or ‘peed’ on by cats and mice,” he said. Gulston said several complaints have been made about the matter but nothing has been done until now. He admitted there was a problem of overcrowding in the prisons. “It depends on how much space we have, if there is a large total, then we have to fit them to suit,” he said.
Gulston suggested that as part of a space-saving plan, prisoners should not be allowed to bring too many clothes into the cell, especially for remanded prisoners. There should be prison clothes, he said. The Association president spoke about the need for space in all of the prisons, not only for prisoners but for prison officers. “We need more dormitories to accommodate more prison officers since more prisoners are coming into the system,” he said.

Gulston lamented the deplorable hygienic conditions in the prisons. He gave as an example, the prisoners who share one cell, having to share one pail for toilet purposes. Gulston said along with this problem, is the lack of ventilation. “So together with cats and mice which are already disease carriers, there is no ventilation which is another way to  contract a disease, especially tubercolosis,” he said. He agreed about the need for rehabilitation of prisoners since this will ensure that other systems such as parole go into effect and will ease up the problem of overcrowding. Gulston said as part of rehabilitation, there should be training programmes for the prison officers. He lamented that part of their frustrations is the fact that they cannot get employment when they leave prison. He said this is why some of them become mischievous and end up back in crime. Asked about the HIV/Aids situation in the prisons, he said while he does not have “empirical evidence” of how badly the virus has spread, he knows the problem exists because of HIV/Aids related deaths. “Whether they come into the prison with it we do not know because there is no testing done on the prisoners, so we do not know if they acquired it while they were in prison or before they came into prison,”said Gulston.
He called on government to allow conjugal arrangements (sexual relations between the prisoner and his wife/girlfriend), which may help decrease chances of developing homosexual relationships. He disagreed with a call from Dr Raneiri Guerra of the Italian firm Instiuto Superiore di Sanita earlier this week, who suggested that prisoners should be given condoms as a way of curbing the HIV/Aids virus. Dr Guerra was a guest speaker at a workshop on HIV/Aids organised by the Ministry of Planning and Development. “Giving prisoners condoms will only encourage homosexuality in the prisons,” he said.

Gulston agreed that the rehabilitation problem is a huge one which will need extensive re-training of prison officers, support from government, a lot of money, the right infrastructure and programmes and effective management.
Attorney — Community prisons will ease overcrowding
Attorney-at-law, Anand Ramlogan, has called on government to construct smaller prisons in a few of the major districts across the country. Ramlogan, who has represented both prison officers and prisoners during his legal profession, spoke about his concerns of the prison system in an interview with Sunday Newsday recently. “We have to bring the communities closer to the prisoners and the prison officers,” he said. He felt that with community and religious leaders being able to visit the prisoners more often, will boost their morale and hasten the rehabilitation process. Ramlogan said this plan may prove to benefit the prisoners as well, since a lot of them complained about the amount of money they spend on travelling to and from work at the prisons, especially those living in south Trinidad. “Most times, the wives and girlfriends of these inmates can’t visit them because they don’t have the money for travelling,” he said. He said when a pundit or priest from the community visits the prisoners, their faces light up because they feel good that someone remembered them. Ramlogan said if government had to look at the problem of overcrowding, which is the “tip of the iceberg” of prison reform, it has to look at it from a geographical dimension. He said constructing smaller prisons within some of the communities, may benefit all parties involved and could increase chances of the conjugal visitation and consequently, decrease the likelihood of homosexuality within the prisons and the spread of HIV/Aids. Strange occurrences in the prison
Have you ever heard about the ‘vault?’

A source told Sunday Newsday that the ‘vault’ is the hole of the inmates’ buttocks, into which illegal substances such as marijuana and other drugs are stuck for transportation to prison cells. The source said once a prisoner has money, he can get just about anything, from cell-phone cards to cigarettes and other necessities. It was disconcerting to hear that a few of the prison officers are involved in the racket. “They (prison officers) will charge a prisoner as much as $100 for a $34 cell-phone card and as much as $100 for a pack of cigarettes,” the source said. Officials Sunday Newsday contacted about these incidents said they did not know anything about those occurrences in the prisons.
A visitor’s account
On entering a prison, the first thing that hits you is the strong stench of disinfectant. The source said it is only when you walk through the halls, that the other odours of filth hit you. In a cell, there may be one double-decker or one small bed. Usually, there are supposed to be about three prisoners to a cell, but because of the increase in prisoner population, there may be as many as ten to 15 prisoners in a cell. Those who cannot fit on a bed, are said to scramble for space on the floors and sleep on cardboard. The prisoners are not allowed to go to toilets in the night, so they all have to share one pail. “So, you could imagine the stench when you pass near a cell,” he said. When they are awakened early in the morning, about 6 am, they are lined up for a bath, where they are hosed down with soapy water and normal water. “The problem with that is because they don’t get to bathe properly, it usually causes infections,” the source said.