Skip to playerSkip to main content
CCNTV6
  • 2 years ago
Very soon, off-duty prisons officers will be equipped with firearms. The confirmation came today from Prisons Commissioner Deopersad Ramoutar, who tells TV6, threats have been coming in every day. The news comes just hours after a prisons officer's car was torched. Rynessa Cutting reports.
Transcript
00:00 Good news for prisons officers, bad news for the criminals.
00:05 Prisons Commissioner Deoposad Ramutang confirms to TV6 that after years of lobbying, prisons
00:10 officers will soon have an additional layer of protection.
00:14 The law was passed where the prison commissioner can now issue firearms on his officers of
00:20 duty.
00:21 The law was passed last week.
00:23 It was assented to by the president.
00:26 Back in February during debate on the bill, senators had expressed concern about the means
00:30 by which officers would be granted arms.
00:33 But the commissioner assures all is above board.
00:36 It's a process that I will not go public with.
00:40 I will just let you know it is similar to what it is lobbying at FQL, to the commission
00:46 of police.
00:47 It's a similar process to that.
00:50 Where there is a stringent check and balance.
00:53 Officers are in need and officers do have to apply.
00:57 An assessment is done.
01:00 The news comes just weeks after a brazen gun attack on the deputy commissioner of prisons.
01:05 The commissioner says the threats have been coming fast and furious.
01:09 With the last attack on the deputy commissioner, there is a lot of information coming to us
01:16 that other seniors are under threat.
01:18 I know you told me you all get so many threats, right?
01:23 Some legitimate, some probably not.
01:25 But if you could roughly quantify it, how many would you say for the year thus far?
01:30 As much as days in a year have passed so far.
01:33 On Monday, police reported that a prison officer's car was destroyed by fire when he went to
01:39 visit his girlfriend in Lavant Hill.
01:41 The cause of the fire is undetermined pending further investigation.
01:46 Renassa Cutting, TV6 News.
Be the first to comment
Add your comment