Our prisons are at a crossroads following fatal stabbing

I visited Cork Prison three or four times in my career as a senior prison officer. I was always amazed at how compact it was, it almost contorted to meet itself, as building hugged building within its tight confines.

Space was at a premium and overcrowding was a fact. Since 1982 it has been the nation’s most overcrowded prison. Judges may decide to imprison with impunity but governors have to accept all committals regardless of space, hence chronic overcrowding and diminution of services and infrastructural support, with the expected results.

That a greater number of serious incidents – such as the violent death of the unfortunate Cork prisoner this week – don’t occur is partly luck but also because of the calm demeanour of most prisoners and the staff’s alertness. However, stabbings in the country’s jails and the use of “sharps” is on the increase.

The past three months have seen the stabbing and hospitalisation of five prison staff. Now we have a prison fatality. In an article, I recently predicted that sooner or later a prison officer would be stabbed to death. That it was instead a compliant prisoner means it should be treated with no less horror or outrage.

While prison staff try to rehabilitate prisoners, their core duty is to provide a service that ensures prisoners are held safely and securely with dignity. If they cannot guarantee that, then they might as well be redundant. And while the shock and horror reverberates around Cork jail this week, prisons everywhere will feel the tension. A new benchmark has been reached in the violence stakes.

The problems with prisons go back to the State’s foundation. A legacy of British misrule, abuse and indiscriminate jailing of republicans coloured future generations’ views of the penal system.

While the Garda and Defence Forces have at their heads people who came through the ranks, prisons appear as an afterthought. Their heads have come from the realms of the Department of Justice, social welfare, probation and welfare. The Prison Service is run from Longford by civil servants; prison staff feel isolated and distant from the machinations that determine how each prison is run.

Revolving-door syndrome

Thirty-five years ago, when the “revolving door” syndrome first arose, prison space was determined by cell space. One cell, one prisoner was considered the safest and most secure way of incarceration. About 15 years ago, a new format entered the lexicon. “Bed space” became the buzz phrase. The unthinkable happened as cells were doubled and trebled.

A jail landing with 20 cells and 20 prisoners overnight became 20 cells with 40-plus inmates. However, exercise yards, recreation halls, and visiting rooms didn’t get bigger, nor did the allocation of staff. Over the years, ministers and their acolytes have wasted grey matter trying to reduce staff and bring in savings.

In an effort to wipe out overtime about a decade ago – compulsory overtime, incidentally mandated and operated by the self-same department – the then mandarins introduced a system called annualised hours. The most important aspect was that while it was no longer called overtime, it still entailed most officers working many of their rest days.

Our prisons are at a crossroads. This fatality and the previous stabbings are merely an indication of what’s happening, how mindsets have changed and what the future holds. Unfortunately, prison staff have had their hands tied by the other State agencies. If a governor requests an armed Garda escort it is at the whim of the local superintendent whether it’s granted or not. That call should rest entirely with the governor, not the Garda Síochána.

While all gardaí wear stab vests, and private security firms contracted by Irish Rail, Bus Éireann and Dublin Bus wear stab vests, the Minister for Justice recently confirmed the order for a number of stab vests for prison staff only to be issued for suitable escorts. The figure being issued across the service is 160. There are 3,000 staff dealing with an annual intake of approximately 15,000 committals. It’s almost as if prison staff are not trusted as to how they should protect themselves within the jails they work in.

Prisons operate almost invisibly to most people until a serious incident hits the headlines. We never hear of the countless lives staff save due to prison officers’ ability and intuition regarding those at risk from suicidal tendencies. And when an incident such as this week’s awful tragedy in Cork occurs, people rightly ask how come and why? What they are not aware of is that, often on a daily basis, prison staff monitor a fragile environment in a way that cannot be taught in a class. Experience and good leadership ensure the wellbeing of all who dwell behind those anonymous walls.

Safety mission

Prison governors need to be empowered to run their respective prisons. And prisons will become safer if they in turn consult and listen to staff and equip them properly. Prisoners should be graded along security categories, and the psychiatrically disturbed should be moved to places appropriate to their needs and not jails. Finally, jails should be for serious criminals – not places for the poor and politically incorrect.

John Cuffe is a criminologist and a former senior prison officer