15 Christmases ‘behind bars’
Roddy Denhart, Assistant Superintendent, presently serving as the second in command of the Georgetown Prison ‘A’
Roddy Denhart, Assistant Superintendent, presently serving as the second in command of the Georgetown Prison ‘A’

By Richard Bhainie

WHEN one thinks about the people locked away behind the walls of the prison, automatically, attention is drawn to the inmates; one hardly ever ponders on the life of prison officers and the risks they take to protect the nation.

Prison officers play an imperative role in the administration of justice and the maintenance of social order within society, but they are often forgotten.

The Sunday Chronicle reached out to Roddy Denhart, an Assistant Superintendent, presently serving as the second in command of the Georgetown Prison ‘A’, to get his perspective on ‘Christmas behind bars.’

Denhart has been a prison officer for the past 20 years and has spent Christmas Day, for 15 of those years, on duty. He described spending Christmas in the prison environment as a “happy and sad moment” for himself. Happy, because he is delighted to serve and perform his duties, but sad, because he is not with his loved ones.

“Usually my children would not wake up and find me at home on Christmas morning and that’s very sad for me, but, it is a happy moment knowing that I am appointed to serve the nation,” Denhart said.

Denhart explained that in anticipation of the Christmas season and festivities, ranks are informed beforehand of who would be on duty, so that they may prepare and organise themselves for the season.

“If by any means, any officer had some special plan or activity, the fact we give them adequate time, they would notify us and we would try our best to facilitate that officer,” Denhart explained.

As the immediate commander, Denhart would brief the ranks on environmental changes the season brings. Based on his years of experience, he would enlighten the other officers on what it is like being on the job; what to expect and what is expected of them.

“I find myself encouraging them, as well as well-wishing them before we go into the prison, so everybody would be fully charged with the energy of the festive season so when we go into the prison we will discharge the very same energy to the inmates,” Denhart said.

He noted that during the Christmas season, some inmates would enter a state of despondency, especially those who are spending their first Christmas in prison.

“There’s a lot of fathers, sons and brothers, they reflect on home; so you find a lot of mixed emotions taking place in the environment and as officers, as professionals, we need to be able to recognise it and we would deal with individual challenges as it arises,” Denhart related.

Upon identifying individuals who isolate themselves during the season, the prison service takes steps to lift the spirits of the individuals and provide counselling where it is necessary.

“We would immediately involve the welfare or sometimes if they are not comfortable talking with the welfare, they might have a favourite officer that they feel comfortable expressing themselves [to],” Denhart said.

Leading up to Christmas, the prison service takes steps to ensure that inmates are well acquainted with what is happening in society, so that they too feel involved in the festivities.

“We have a lot of activities following up to Christmas to sensitise the inmate population that we are approaching the festive season and we did not forget them by any means; we try our best to ensure that we bring the Christmas spirit to them,” he explained.

He added “we ensure they have access to the media, to the news and everything that’s happening so they are fully aware of what’s going on, not only in the prison environment but around society as well.”

CHRISTMAS DAY AT ‘CAMP STREET’

At the Georgetown prisons, the day begins at 5:00h; the inmates are served with the ‘special breakfast’ which includes pepperpot and bread, sweets and other niceties.

The prisons would later host a Christmas tree light up, along with a concert and the inmates would express their creative side through participation in skits, storytelling and writing poems. If there are inmates with one or two children, the prison officers would go the extra mile to purchase a gift for those children and allowing the inmate an opportunity to present that gift.

“We would inquire how many kids do they have, and if they have one or two kids, the administration would stand the expense to purchase a gift and to invite their loved ones here and give them the opportunity to present a gift to their children just to ensure their Christmas spirit is up and they don’t feel disappointed,” Denhart explained.

Denhart related that the inmates display great appreciation for the efforts of the prison service. He recalled one Christmas, when a group of inmates secretly made a special gift for them.

“They planned for us and they had created some very artistic work that they did secretively to present to us to express gratitude that we are serving them throughout the year and they wanted to say a special thank you by presenting this craftwork that they had put together,” Denhart explained.

He added: “it was really impressive it was a good feeling for me to know that not only are we thinking about our job but our job is thinking about us, and that was very unique and I really enjoyed the moment to receiving something from the inmates. It was a painting and a paper mache swan, and I have the painting and swan up to today.”

This year, Christmas at the prisons will be a bit different, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. According to Denhart, the usual “family bonding” will not be facilitated. However, the prison has implemented measures to ensure the inmates are able to connect with their families.

“We would not be able to have visitors [at] the prison but we have systems in place; we have our virtual visit, we have devices, tablets and so forth to facilitate the virtual visits. We will inform the families of the apps and we would supervise the meetings,” Denhart explained.

Denhart took the opportunity to encourage young people to desist from indulging in activities that may be to their detriment. He emphasised that youths must find role models and heed guidance from persons who may have their best interest at heart.

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