In the latest Report on an announced inspection of HM Cayman Islands Prison Service 22-27 July 2012 by HM Chief Inspector of Prisons it says the expected outcomes on security are:

Security and good order are maintained through an attention to physical and procedural matters, including effective security intelligence as well as positive staff-prisoner relationships. Prisoners are safe from exposure to substance misuse while in prison.

This is what was found:

Physical security at both sites was deficient. Security information handling systems were basic. There was inadequate focus on drug misuse at Northward and drug testing arrangements were poor. The limited staff–prisoner relationships resulted in little dynamic security.

Northward was surrounded by a single 5.2-metre security fence with a single point of access through a concrete-structured gate lodge. Parts of the gate lodge were out of bounds owing to the failing of the concrete and the supporting steel work. The poor physical condition of the cellular accommodation blocks (see section on residential units) compromised the security of the establishment and rendered them inadequate, especially for housing category A and B prisoners. Internal walls and fences were in a poor state of repair and there were many unprotected climb-points.

Fairbanks was surrounded by a 3-metre chain-link fence that was in a poor state of repair, with netting entangled throughout the old and decrepit barbed wire that had been erected at the top of the fence. This did not provide the prison with sufficient external security. The ‘gate’ was a tubular frame that slid across the main entrance and was not protected by barbed/razor wire. The main building was a concrete block construction resembling a warehouse. It was partitioned off into caged dormitories by the use of chain-link fencing. There were also three ‘maximum’ cells constructed of rigid wire mesh.

There was no security committee or any formal arrangement by which to pass on key information to other departments in the prison. Security intelligence systems were almost nonexistent. Security information reports (SIRs) had been introduced but we were unable to find any completed forms relating to either site. There was a folder of ‘incident reports’ but there had been no analysis of these and any knowledge base was purely anecdotal.

Effective staff–prisoner interactions were so limited at Northward that staff had little understanding of the prisoners in their charge, so the opportunity for effective dynamic security was minimal. The picture at Fairbanks was considerably better, although this was due to the almost one-to-one ratio of prisoners to staff, rather than any strategic consideration.

A hand-written ledger was maintained of what were deemed to be significant issues, but the information it contained was not analysed to provide a picture of emerging issues or areas of concern to security, beyond the total number of searches and drug tests recorded each month.

Contact with the local police was minimal and was restricted to the disposal of illegal substances. There were high levels of illegal drugs at Northward, and the smell of cannabis pervaded throughout the establishment at all times of the day and night. In our survey, 45% of prisoners said that it was easy to get illegal drugs into the prison and there were high numbers of drug finds recorded in the ledger (a monthly average of 15 finds for the first six months of 2012), including the discovery of a pound and a half of cannabis in March 2012. In spite of this, the prison took no action to prevent the ingress of drugs; the small security team (two officers) were regularly redeployed to other duties and undertook no targeted drug testing of prisoners suspected of being involved with drugs. Thirty-eight per cent of prisoners at Northward said that it was easy to get alcohol into the prison but a review of the security ledger revealed only one instance of an alcohol find in 2012.

Mandatory drug testing facilities were poor and not sufficiently clinical, being carried out in the women’s toilets at both sites. On-site urinalysis testing was carried out for cannabis and cocaine, although almost entirely for parole or compliance reasons. At Northward, a high positive testing rate of 28% in the year to date was recorded for cannabis, with no positives for cocaine. Testing equipment was inappropriately stored along with staff food items. At Fairbanks, there was minimal testing and no positive tests had resulted.

In spite of the high positive drug testing rate, the common knowledge of regular drug use and the anecdotal knowledge of high-profile prisoners within the drug culture, there was no prison specific drug strategy or even a programme of target testing.

See also today’s Editorial that includes a lot more of the Report