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Senior Reporter

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Acting Prison Commissioner Carlos Corraspe says solid evidence against his officers is needed before action can be taken against them for colluding with prisoners in the plot that sparked the current State of Emergency.

Corraspe made the comment in response to reports claiming 40 prison officers had been found to be working with prisoners to smuggle in cellphones, which the prisoners in turn used to organise a crime syndicate that was targeting high-ranking state officials, a situation which was the catalyst for the ongoing State of Emergency.

Asked for an update on the status of the officers yesterday, Corraspe said he did not want to comment on any action or perceived inaction, as that may be tipping off possible suspects. He said that while there were some officers who may have been identified, that was just intelligence that now needs to be converted into evidence.

“You cannot act on intel. Intel just gives you an idea of who are persons who may be acting in a particular manner. But then you need a little more than that to act against them,” he said.

He added that his officers are entitled to the constitutional backing of innocence until proven otherwise, in accordance with the Constitution.

“We are taking all action and everything that has to be done to ensure that prison officers who act unlawfully are detected and brought to bear the full brunt of the law. You cannot act on someone based on hearsay. You need a little more information than that. Everybody’s innocent until proven guilty. Those principles apply to us as a service as well.”

He also warned his officers against engaging in criminal activities.

“Our position is that we will not compromise. And I have spoken to officers to tell them to conduct themselves in a lawful manner. And if they have been engaging themselves in any manner that is not in keeping with the tenets of the office, then come away from that. Because as sure as night follows day, we will find you and you will pay the consequence.”

Also addressing the report, Prison Officers Association president Gerard Gordon said as far as he was aware, no prison officer had so far been subjected to any police probe.

“As it relates to those statements about the 40 officers, we have not seen any arrests, we haven’t seen any investigations, not that we know of, ongoing, any searching of people’s property or anything like that. But we certainly will support any activity that will see these men out of the service,” Gordon said.

He called on the public to step forward with any information that could lead to the arrest and conviction of any prison officer involved in illegal activities.

The sentiment was echoed by Corraspe, who said officers will not be spared if found breaking the law.

“I could rest assured that all officers who are acting unlawfully, we will spare no effort to ensure that they are rooted out of the prison service, so that the prison service can breathe and we can continue to do the work that we have to do. And we can only do that properly with lawful officers who are conducting themselves lawfully.”