A top official of the Dominica State Prison has disclosed that while the prison is faced with “its own unique challenges,” they are coping well and managing the situation.
Acting Assistant Superintendent of Prison Handel Joseph in delivering the “Jail delivery” at the closing of the Criminal Session on April 14, 2022, told the court that additional staff would go a long way as it relates to performing the duties at the institution more effectively.
“All sections would have sufficient officers to perform their duties,” he said. Joseph also told the court that they are concerned about the length of time inmates spend on remand before their cases are heard.
“For example, there is an inmate who is at the prison for seven (7) years and nine (9) months. As a matter of fact, there are 13 other inmates who are in prison for over three (3) years and their cases are not yet heard. This causes our remand population to be very high,” ASP (Acting) Joseph told the court.
Joseph also told the court that they are now having a “virtual court” at the prison for remands via zoom which “saves a lot of time.”
On the issue of “psyche inmates,” Joseph told the court that presently, there are 33 “psyche inmates and many of those inmates are housed with other inmates because of their behaviour and aggressive nature fights seem to be the end results.”
“Officers have to protect psyche inmates, the other inmates, and themselves,” he remarked.
He also addressed the issue of security telling the court that “since the prison is the situation in the center of the drug zone, intruders/perpetrators have on occasions gotten through our fence only to get into the compound unauthorized or illegal articles.”
On the gains at the prison, they now have a new prison bus which Joseph said will facilitate the prison in having the inmates travel on a separate vehicle from officers. They also have six (6) retired Prison Officers performing night duties which allows the current serving officers to be “deployed on the day shift.” He also told the court that due to COVID 19 visits for inmates by friends, families and loved ones “have been placed on hold.”
“The prison population as of April 14, 2022, is two hundred and six (206) making up of 203 males and 3 females,” he said. Also, among the prison population are two (2) juveniles both males on remand. There are thirteen (13) foreign nationals, one St. Lucian, two from St. Maarten, two Haitian, three Venezuelan, one from Antigua Barbuda, one Barbadian, one Jamaican, one Trinidadian, and one from St. Croix.
Joseph told the court that 31 of the males at the prison came from the High Court, one female from the High Court, 60 males from the Magistrate’s court, and two females from the Magistrate’s court. On remand are 103 with no females and awaiting trial are 9 males with no females.