The Ministry of Home Affairs and Public Safety has welcomed the recent graduation of ten new recruits to the prison service, and said that it was an important step towards addressing the staff shortage in this important service.
The ten young recruits recently completed an intense training course to become prison officers and were presented with certificates by Overseas Territories Prison Advisor Steve Fradley and Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Home Affairs Denise Saunders.
Ms Saunders, reflecting on the event said:
“I wish to congratulate the ten recruits who successfully completed the basic training course to become Prison Officers. It is very important to note that all the new officers are Belongers. This is very positive, as over the years we have had difficulty in recruiting enough Belongers to the Prison service. Consequently, we were forced to recruit Prison Officers from other Caribbean islands. These new officers will go a long way in addressing the severe staff shortage that the Prison Service was experiencing. I trust that their decision to become Prison Officers is an indication that they have chosen to build a career in corrections and I wish them much success in the future.”
Ms Saunders urged the new officers to make use of ongoing opportunities to continue improving their skills.
“With the induction training now complete and the on-the-job training about to begin, I would also like to congratulate the entire training team for their dedication and hard work to the Prison Service. We look forward to their continued support and the sustained effort by the new prison officers as we work together to build a safe and secure environment for everyone,” she said.
Over 20 topics were covered in the training including: Purpose of Prison Service, Foot Drill, Professional Conduct, Scenes of Crime, Report Writing, General Aspects of Security, Criminal Justice System and Sentence Planning.
The ten new prison officers are:
Meeklight Atherton Obiefuna Eze
Oliver Lightbourne Vanessa Smith
John Green Maxie Pierre
George Coleman Basil King
Edric Smith Lawanda Jennings
Prison Advisor Steve Fradley also praised the efforts of the officers and the work of the instructors, and expressed the hope that more young people will seek to join the prison service.
