PRISONERS ‘going live’ from within their jail cells is of deep concern to prison authorities, although they said over 40 cellphones were seized during exercises at the Lusignan Pasture where several of the inmates had been held following the destruction of the Camp Street Prison.
The possibility of collusion, both from prison officers and prisoners, has not been ruled out Director of Prisons, Gladwyn Samuels has said.
During a press conference held at the Ministry of Public Security, Brickdam, following the escape of 13 prisoners from the Lusignan Prison, Samuels was questioned as to how prisoners had access to cellphones and other contraband items. To this end, he related that there has been consideration for the possibility of collusion. “This is something we’ve never ruled out,” Samuels stressed.
During the press conference, Minister of Public Security, Khemraj Ramjattan, weighed in that sanitisation exercises were done twice at the ‘swampy’ Lusignan Prison area, where in addition to other weapons, 22 cellphones were found during the initial check and 27 during the second.
“They are managing to be very smart,” Ramjattan said, while relating that these prisoners had managed to hide their items from the first check and more items could still be hidden. During these sanitisation efforts, Samuels related that some of the prisoners would be hiding the cellphones “in various places”, and while searches of the prisoners’ personal spaces can be done, these can only be done with reasonable cause, lest strife be incited.
It has been reported that prisoners have been publicising their escape plans via Facebook and have been communicating with persons outside of the prisons. This has been made possible through the use of the cellphones within the system. Unlike at a previous press conference where Samuels had indicated that several prisoners were involved in the escape plot of the mastermind of the fire at Camp Street, Royden Williams, he could not ascertain the same at the time of this press conference. Moreover, the ‘ringleader’ for this escape plan could not be identified at the time either.
While interviews with the prisoners can be conducted, unless a prisoner volunteers to disclose certain information, there isn’t much that prison officers could garner. “It would impossible for anyone to operate as a ‘snitch’ in a general conversation,” he said.

Collusion
Touching on collusion from prison officers, the director highlighted that there is some degree of camaraderie among the officers that could possibly explain why certain contraband materials trickle into the system. He explained that due to the number of years some staffers have worked together, there is some degree of trust that could foster improper and illegal activities that officers engage in to earn extra cash.
Random searches are carried out on staff members, and Samuels accounted that on more than one occasion, several officers have been dismissed or even sent to prison for their involvement in transporting contraband items.
These searches, he explained, must be carried out by an officer of the similar sex and who is of a higher rank. And, though rotating staff would address these issues of cronyism, Samuels related that this is not always possible since some of the prisons like the New Amsterdam Prison, do not have the capacity to house the officers. However, he related, “as far as it is possible, we embark on the rotation of those staff.”
Upon the re- operationalisation of the Georgetown Prison, Samuels has advanced that “modern” scanners will be installed. “That will reduce the frequency at which staff and other persons who enter the prison could attempt to smuggle, whether it is cellphones or other contraband into the facility,” he said.
Additionally, Samuels noted that cellphone jammers were installed at the Camp Street Prison prior to the fire and unrest, however, according to him, these were not in use since the use of these jammers resulted in the disability of certain other measures of communication. He stated that communication is necessary within the prison, and the administration is sourcing jammers that would not interfere with other means of communication of the prison. These should be installed once the Georgetown Prison is fully restored. In spite of the concerns of collusion, “This is not a situation where wrongdoers are condoned, it is just that it is a process,” the director said.