Prison Walkout

metman

After reading this story about Warren Dumbrell and his brother being transferred to Portloaise I thought I'd pose a question;

Is the Irish Prison Service in crisis?

If one man can case such a furore, it begs the question what is going on behind closed doors in the prison service? Is there simply a lack of suitable accommodation for such violent prisoners, or are practices and procedures in the service not up to dealing with today's inmates, who like Dumbrell, are very violent, use drugs and steroids and have 'nothing to lose'?

Violent prisoners here, like "Charlie Bronson", are generally kept in solitary confinement and locked up 23 hours a day. When Bronson is moved or allowed out, he's accompanied by a full C&R team. Though he's been a pain in the ass for the Prison Service over the years, officer's haven't gone to the lengths of walking out on account of him being moved to their institution. But then the Prison's here have moved with the times, to a certain degree, and have riot teams fully capable of dealing with everything from riots down to cell-relocations without having to rely on any outside help.

If the likes of Dumbrell states he is going to make life difficult for officers who will be dealing with him on the Wing, then in my view he should be stuck in solitary and treated accordingly until he learns to behave. Failing that, leave him there.

As for the prison service, from this episode it would appear it needs as much investment as AGS does.

Eru

Prisons closed, understaffed and caps on ot are just some of the day to day problems in the prisons. My father is actually a prison officer and he cant believe anyone would be happy about their sons joining the service.

Just look at this: 2 officers in the yard during break time is a joke but thats what the roster allows for. the kickers arent deployed anymore due to civil rights. They have no protective equipment as standard. Ok they are issued with asps, rigid cuffs and the kickers have riot shields etc but they dont carry these things as standrard practice. In fact my father has his baton at home because he would rather take the kicking than lose his pension.

The prison service here is being driven into the ground but thats the way the vocal minority wants it and theres no opposition from the non vocal majority.

FGR

It can be unbelievable seeing the dire conditions our colleagues in the PS work in. From observing Cork, Limerick, Mountjoy and Cloverhill I could say all with the exception of Cloverhill are exceptionally outdated and require exceptional modernisation and expansion in order to cope with Health and Safety for officers alone - nevermind the mass overcrowding and revolving door system that arises from lack of space.

There needs to be a lot more pressure put on the relevant authorities to set things straight..

Fyr.Fytr

Roll on Thornton Hall

m4j

It's shocking the conditions seen in the likes of the Joy (the smell alone in Pats made me Gag when on a professional visit a few years back), and the lack of support Prison Officers get overall is scary. I had a friend who was an officer at the time of the Riot in the Joy, he never returned to work and was never the same person again. There also seemed to be a change in the recruitment process in which trainee officers were brought in on very low wages. I dont know if this impacted the service as a whole but this and the then Justice Minister who's name will not be mention appears to have had a negative impact overall on the service.

There was a time (10-15 years back) were the Prison Officer Position was seen in the same light as the Gardai, strict standards in recruitment etc it seemed more like a vocation for officers, this to an outsider seems to have changed now. In the UK I believe it Prisons are run by private security firms, is this the way they want it to go I wonder.

I have personally had involvement with the Dumbrells from many years ago, some might remember the Picture on the front of the Herald of a Baseball Bat with nails sticking out it, this was found in the car used by the brothers to ram the Gardai. Violence was second nature to them mixed with mental health issues and hey presto you have some of the worst offenders in the Country.

I truely thank God that I dont have to deal with such people and wonder how Prison Officers manage.

FGR

A bit of a general query here but anyone know of any prospective/serving Prison Officer on boards at the minute?

It would be interesting to get their take.

bohsboy

In the service myself but would be afraid to comment on a public board about the Dumbrell situation. The lengths the powers that be go to gag the officers could see my front door being kicked in and laptop examined. Needless to say, you are spot on regarding those particular brothers.

Cant say too much more.:(

Supercell

Those guys look like they are semi-retarded tbh.

Padded cells and medication is the way forward for them, rehabilitation is never going to work, they probably are to retarded to understand the word.

yayamark

Supercell wrote: »

Those guys look like they are semi-retarded tbh.

Padded cells and medication is the way forward for them, rehabilitation is never going to work, they probably are to retarded to understand the word.

Your giving semi-retaeded people a bad name there.

Came accross one of them in Dublin 5 years ago nasty piece of stuff

Are they all locked up now? If yes good.

metman

bohsboy wrote: »

In the service myself but would be afraid to comment on a public board about the Dumbrell situation. The lengths the powers that be go to gag the officers could see my front door being kicked in and laptop examined. Needless to say, you are spot on regarding those particular brothers.

Cant say too much more.:(

Mate its funny isnt it, your service 'hasn't the resources' to deal with violent slags like the Dumbrells....but you can bet they'd find the resources to hunt down naysayers in the ranks.....same old tosh, different day.

Kimbot

From my experience a staffing overhaul needs to be done aswell as a few new prisons but because the price of building a prison is so high and the cost of keeping prisoners (while respecting their human rights) is madness then it will lways be the way.

I believe chain gangs are the way to go like the USA. Get them to work on roads etc etc saving tax payers money and not wasting it. Until something like that happens then there is feck all going to change.