GANGLAND CRIMINALS are continuing to deal drugs via mobile phones from their prison cells and gangs are gaining more control in prisons, the Prison Officers’ Association (POA) has said.
Association president Jim Mitchell said, given increased gun violence, he was concerned prison officers might be shot while escorting gang leaders.
“In the past we’ve seen instances of escorts leaving courts or prisons where the prisoner has a bullet proof vest, the garda has a bullet proof vest and the prison officer is wearing a tie,” he told the POA’s annual conference in Castlebar, Co Mayo.
“For us this is unacceptable. We’re entitled to the same protection as everybody else. We would have to be concerned with the amount of growing gun crime and be cognisant of our members’ safety.”
Mr Mitchell said his members working in jails were aware of numerous cases where gang leaders are continuing to run their drugs business via smuggled mobile phones from their cells. He said it was more difficult to maintain discipline due to overcrowding.
Last week there were 654 inmates in Mountjoy Prison, Dublin. The prison had a maximum bed capacity of 570 and many inmates were now sleeping on the floor in the reception area. In Cork Prison last weekend there were 314 inmates, despite the maximum bed capacity being just 150. In contrast, there were just 48 subversive inmates in four landings in Portlaoise Prison, where there were 150 cells. The inmates had so much space they were using empty cells as wardrobes for their clothes and sports gear.
Mr Mitchell said while a small number of prison officers were suspected of smuggling contraband into jails, the POA would not offer them any support.
Association deputy general secretary Eugene Dennehy said it was imperative that technology be introduced to jails immediately to block the signal needed to operate mobile phones.
Director general of the Irish Prison Service Brian Purcell conceded gang related activity was an issue. The problem mirrored the gang culture prevalent in society. He said new security measures had been introduced, such as airport-style searching, to frustrate gang members. He denied prisoners in Portlaoise had “walk-in wardrobes”.
Overcrowding was a problem because of an increase of 8 per cent in people being imprisoned in the past 12 months. However, he dismissed the POA’s suggestion that nothing was being done.
Some 1,400 new prison spaces had been created in the past 12 years and 400 additional spaces were being built. He said that while the new prison at Thornton Hall in north Co Dublin had been delayed, it would eventually go ahead. A second new prison – at Kilworth in Co Cork – would not go ahead until Thornton had started.
Mobile phone signal-blocking technology had been trialled at the Midlands Prison. It had worked well and was being extended to Portlaoise Prison and Dublin’s Wheatfield and Cloverhill jails.