The disturbances reported to have taken place at HMP Ford 'Cat D' Open Prison on New Years Eve are just but one inevitable result of a prison system operating at almost maximum capacity. As far as I'm aware there has never been any serious trouble before and what this says to me is that increasingly the wrong type of prisoner is being sent to this normally quiet backwater of the low security prison estate. Only holding about 500 inmates, this is the place where typically the 'toffs' or other middle class low risk offenders gravitate to quite quickly. Notable inmates have included Lord Brocket, Ernest Saunders and George Best.
With a prison system operating near to maximum capacity, common sense says that it is not always possible to allocate prisoners to an ideal location because there will almost certainly not be the correct number of bed spaces available for each category of prisoner. For some time there has been concern about sending inappropriate prisoners to less secure conditions. For open prisons like Ford to work well, they have to rely heavily on the inmates being well motivated towards self-policing and for years this has worked satisfactorily. But in recent times Inspections have highlighted the amount of alcohol being brought into the prison, thus demonstrating a high degree of disregard for prison rules. We all know that where there is alcohol there is a good chance that trouble is not far away and the decision to breath test inmates on New Years Eve with so few officers on duty I guess was always likely to end in tears.
I notice that Inspector Gadjet is highlighting the fact that a number of prisoners serving life for murder and manslaughter have gone missing over recent time and this is very worrying indeed. Not because such prisoners might pose a possible risk to the public, I'm fairly sure they don't, but because they were clearly so unhappy with the regime that they decided to take a huge risk and go on the run. Any lifer who reaches open conditions knows that they are within sight of release and are normally highly motivated towards co-operating fully with the trust and responsibility granted to them by the Parole Board.
Absconding inevitably means that they have jeopardised everything and when apprehended will go straight back to secure conditions and face an uphill struggle convincing the Parole Board to give them another chance. These absentee prisoners are confirming to me that the blame doesn't lie with alcohol, or poor security, but a prison system that is at bursting point.
"These absentee prisoners are confirming to me that the blame doesn't lie with alcohol, or poor security, but a prison system that is at bursting point".
ReplyDeleteYou're wrong. Lets not forget the reason they are in Prison; failing to abide by the rules. Their absconding from Prison is an extension of this attitude, and likely very little to do with the Prison.
What struck me is that (if the BBC can be believed) there were only 2 prison officers and four support staff. That' s six people (if the support staff play any role there which practically speaking I doubt they do) to supervise over five hundred. Yes, prisoners in an open category prison might be assumed to be lower risk, but there are going to be troublemakers in any population, however low-risk, and with staffing levels that low you just aren't going to be able to identify and contain them effectively before it all kicks off. I find it a bit mind boggling frankly.
ReplyDeleteWell I don't think it's that unusual to have so few staff on duty over night - as I say open prisons are normally highly self-policing and prisoners chosen on the basis they can be trusted. The staff are there over night for health and safety reasons mainly.
ReplyDeleteThis has happened basically because less trustworthy prisoners have been placed there and a culture of drinking has grown up. The decision to breath test on New Years Eve was madness and I have sympathy with the view of Jailhouseblog who says the officers started the trouble because they couldn't drink.
Like many aspects of prison life, some common sense is required at certain times to make sure order is maintained. It will be interesting to see what the enquiry says.