00:00President of the Prison Officers Association, Gerard Gordon, says,
00:04The remand yard continues to be packed with frustrated inmates because cases are languishing in the courts.
00:11Evidence is not being provided in a timely manner by the TTPS, and as such, prosecutions are failing to move
00:18forward.
00:19As inmates wait, aggravation builds, and prison officers become the daily targets of that anger.
00:25He stresses that they are the ones who must face, feed, and manage these inmates day after day.
00:32The blood of prison officers remains on the hands of the judiciary.
00:39It remains on the hands of the police, and I make no apologies for saying that.
00:47Gordon says officers have requested firearm users' licenses to protect themselves,
00:52but their pleas have fallen on deaf ears.
00:56He tells us the authorities are failing to take their affairs seriously,
01:01even as officers continue to face threats to their lives and safety.
01:05We have had officers shot right outside the prison.
01:10What has been done? Nothing.
01:15The current commission of police officers are applying for a particular relief.
01:25And you know what he's writing back and saying?
01:27When he refused, for those who have been refused,
01:31that you don't carry large sums of cash.
01:34That you have no, what?
01:37No life threat against your life.
01:41The association president says the prison service remains dangerously under-equipped
01:47to manage an increasingly volatile environment.
01:50He points to unsanitary conditions, officers living in constant fear,
01:55and even a rejected request for surveillance cameras the police did not want.
02:00He tells the morning edition cameras could help change behavior,
02:04but says prison's officers are still being denied basic tools and support.
02:08He argues the service might be better prioritized
02:12if the minister of Homeland Security came from within the prison service.
02:16The place is falling apart.
02:18There's no place in the prison that goes, none.
02:23Everywhere has its issues.
02:25And the prison officer is asked to work in that.
02:27And then not only work in it, you know.
02:30Work short.
02:33No tools.
02:35No equipment.
02:37Every time the body camera issue come up and I say,
02:40you see the cameras the police don't want?
02:43Give we it.
02:45Give us.
02:46Because I understand that a body cam is a behavior modifier.
02:50Nicole M. Romany, TV6 News.
