The H. M. NorthwardPrison Report Women and Fairbanks Prison Part 8 of a Series
In May of this year,Sir David Ramsbotham, Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Prisons,submitted to His Excellency the Governor, Mr Peter Smith, a reportcontaining his opinions on progress made in the Cayman Islandsprison conditions since a two-day riot in 1999. Cayman Net Newshas been publishing a series of articles on this report in successiveeditions.
Education
Sir David found that two of the three teachers at Northward prisonfor males also had a teaching commitment at Fairbanks. He stronglyrecommend that skills of the teachers currently employed at Northwardshould be fully exploited for the benefit of that establishmentand that Fairbanks should have its own permanent teaching staff,and the voluntary teachers who were already committed. He saidthe voluntary teachers were doing an excellent job.
He reported that most women were takingpart in some education and subjects included Maths, English literature,drama, computer studies, social and life skills. Accommodationfor classes was found to be adequate but it was suggested thatthe same would be improved by making proper use of other accommodation.
"Teaching resources for education hadbeen primitive or non-existent but, gradually, these were buildingup through the commitment and generosity of a volunteer teacher.
"Daytime classes lasted only between3/4 and 1 hour and we were concerned that there appeared to beno fixed times for such classes to take place. They appeared tohappen when teachers could spare the time from Northward. Thiswas clearly unsatisfactory and would not be improved until Fairbankshad its own teaching staff. As soon as possible there should beclear starting and finishing times for education classes and punctualityshould be ensured."
He said a social worker, employed by theDirector of Probation, conducted drug education and rehabilitationgroup week (ten-week courses for groups of eight) and one to onework. This was linked with "Cayman Island Against SubstanceAbuse" and concentrated on addressing the questions to prisoners"Why did you choose to traffic?" Arrangement was alsoin hand for Social Services involvement in preparation for parole.
Catering
Breakfast was at 8:00 am; lunch was at noon; supper was between3:30 and 4:00 pm. Additional drinks and snacks were availableafter this.
Sir David said that the kitchen in which food was prepared andserved would be adequate once work required had been completed.As well as catering for the prison population the kitchen alsoprovided meals for staff and prisoners at the nearby court buildings.He spoke of an obvious need for an additional oven, a large fryer,an industrial toaster and additional pots and pans.
"We had serious concerns about themeal being served to women prisoners and we were not surprisedto hear criticism from them. As we found in the women's estateEngland and Wales in 1997 too little understanding and appreciationof the different dietary needs of men and women characterisedthe meals being served at this establishment; in short there wastoo much starch, too few vegetables and too little fresh fruit.It may be that the key to this is that all the stores came fromNorthward prison. In our view there was a need for Fairbanks tocontrol its own budget for food and items which meet the needsof women," he said.
Security
"In general, security was more thanadequate for the type of women prisoners held at Fairbanks. Providedthat staff were doing their jobs properly, the physical securityof the prison was adequate to deter escape; indeed as far as wewere concerned, the main threat appeared to be from intrudersbecause bolt croppers could easily facilitate someone who wasdetermined to get into the grounds. The razor wire needed strengtheningin places.
"The most important and relevant securityat a prison such as Fairbanks is dynamic security. The elementsof this are the quality of relationship between staff and prisoners,the individual attention that is given to the needs of prisonersand the availability and quality of activity provided in the regime,"HM's Chief Inspector of Prisons said.
He said informal relationships were appropriateand friendly but, as at Northward, there was scope for staff tobe professionally involved in casework with individual prisoners.There were the rudiments of a promising regime for the women beingdeveloped and in twelve months time, given good management, therewas every reason to be optimistic that there would be a flourishingregime for women prisoners, which would aid security, he added.
"We were very impressed with the sensitiveand sensible security staffs who were supported from Northward.Security intelligence was good and, surprisingly, very littledrugs taking activity."
Good Order and Discipline
He found that the basic routines for womanprisoners were good although but said his team could find no satisfactoryreason for them not to be given the opportunity for exercise whenthe air is fresh before breakfast. He added that much better usecould be made of the outside areas by women prisoners, given moreimagination.
"As reported above class times werehaphazard but we draw attention to the excellent Monday eveningsocial skills class conducted by a voluntary visitor.
"Relationships between staff and womenwere good but we received allegations of favouritism, which isan almost inevitable consequence of living in such a small community.There were two antidotes to this; first strong leadership fromsenior managers in which they could make it clear that all staffwere expected to behave professionally towards all women. Secondlythe best way in which this could be implemented was by their ownexample.
"Some racial tensions were undeniableand we recommend that there should be carefully managed communitymeetings once or twice a week, working to clear terms in referenceto deal with issues between women openly and thereby help relievethe inevitable frustrations of being cooped up in a fairly smallarea."
He said that women could be given more freedomto move in and out of the building if staff were properly deployedand alert. He said that at the time of inspection there was notelevision or video in neither working order and regular filmswere not available to women. He, however, applauded a decisionthat there were to be no television in the dormitories.
He said the women would benefit from themore exercise equipment, which they could be encouraged to useand that this could be placed in an outside area rather than inthe day room.
"We saw no signs of serious bullyingbut as at Northward we heard allegations of some staff being ableto control women or be frightened to intervene in disputes. Theproper response to this is training in basic jail craft and goodexample and supervision from managers," he said.
Management
"The Director's priorities were understandablycentered on Northward and, for that reason, he was rarely ableto visit Fairbanks. We were not at all satisfied that the managementand staffing structure at Fairbanks met the needs of the establishmentor made the best use of staff. We could see no reason for a principalofficer to be in charge of Fairbanks. We understood that the establishment's regime was put together through the work of lead officers andstaff and we could see no justification for additional middlemanagers."
He said the visit was too short to carryout a proper staff assessment but, on the face of it there weretoo many staff at Fairbanks to look after a relatively small andgenerally complaint female prisoner population.
In his view a proper profiling exercisewas badly needed based on an assessment of the tasks to be carriedout; how these were to be achieved in the most effective way;and what grades of staff and how many were needed to completethe tasks. There needed to be a much firmer grip on staff attendance.
"Overall we believe that the interestsof Fairbanks would best be served if it became as far as possiblean independent prison with its own budget, staffing and resources,"Sir David said.
Next: Recommendationsfor improvement