The year started with peaceful invocation inside the prison walls but by year-end, inmates declared war on prison officers, threatening to wipe out 13 of them and succeeding in killing two.
The hits came from within the walls of the Wayne Jackson Building, formerly Building 13—a renovated facility named after murdered acting Superintendent of Prisons Wayne Jackson who had been killed back in 2018.
The genesis of this war started in early 2021 when Prisons Commissioner Dennis Pulchan got support from then-Police Commissioner Gary Griffith and the Defence Force to unleash one of the biggest prison shakeups in recent history. All high-risk prisoners, some suspected of being the heads of criminal empires were transferred to the Wayne Jackson Building at Maximum Security Prison (MSP).
In January, Griffith issued 300 firearms to prison officers to assist in securing them. A detailed police unit was assigned to support the TT Prisons Service within the compound while support teams were set up to execute mobile patrols around the prison compounds.
Commissioner Pulchan began weeding out rogue officers, whilst embarking on prisoner rehabilitation.
He implemented a COVID-19 policy, conversion to online platforms for prison rehabilitative training, banking, visits and court sessions; agriculture and hydroponics programmes for prisoners, a commissary system, establishment of a COVID-19 facility, mass vaccination drives and the promotion of over 180 officers.
On January 22, Pulchan set up a Physio-Therapy Unit, at the Prisons Sports Club, outfitted with the equipment to perform massage therapy, injury recovery and aid in alleviating physical immobility or disabilities.
While these rehabilitative were rolled out, a team was set up to monitor activities along the prison perimeters.
18 prison officers charged,
180 promoted
On February 5, prison officers arrested a visitor who was trying to traffick drugs under the sole of his shoe. By February 16, 239 prison officers were inducted into the TT Prison Service boosting much-needed manpower in all seven prison facilities.
In late February, a prison officer with seven years of experience was found trafficking compressed marijuana by hiding it in his food. When his locker was searched on February 26, a bag with $15,000 in cash was found hidden there. He was the first of 18 officers to be arrested for trafficking in contraband.
While surveillance continued using police and soldiers, special joint teams raided prison officers homes and made arrests based on data gathered.
A source at Remand Yard said it was easy to know the rogue officers based on their association, conduct and information gleaned by prisoners.
By March COVID-19 presented challenges and visitation were curtailed on April 29, triggering further tensions.
Tensions rise with COVID
On March 19, convicted prisoner Siew Persad escaped by running away from the estate opposite Golden Grove. He was captured a day later and the Prisons authorities enforced tighter controls.
Stress levels escalated and on April 4, prison officer Rudy Boodram collapsed and died. Prisoners went on social media predicting that they will die in droves but this never happened with only one prison officer succumbing to COVID and 65 infected by year-end.
On May 6, Prisons Officer I, Ancil Crosbie, who has over twenty-four years’ service and was under surveillance for some time, was searched upon reporting for duty at the Carrera Convict Prison and found to have a quantity of illegal and unauthorized items. He was charged.
Six days later on May 12, Special Prisoner Glen Adams who was housed at the Eastern Correctional Rehabilitation Centre, was pronounced dead by the attending physician at the Arima Medical Facility. He was COVID negative and was the second to have collapsed and died.
On May 14, Prisons Officer II (Ag) Richard Khan, who had over 24 years of service was searched at Remand Prison and a quantity of illegal and unauthorised items was seized. He too was charged.
On May 28, prisoner Odai Webster who was on mandatory quarantine at MSP was found unresponsive in his cell and later died at Arima Medical Facility. His death triggered unrest as well.
By June, the crackdown on illegal items continued.
Defence Force warrant officers Ronald Steel and Richard Horsham who were visiting Maximum Security Prison were searched and several cartons of cigarettes, marijuana, cigarette lighters, bottles of pepper sauce, WIFI hot spot devices, packets of razor blades, batteries, shaver machines, and wireless headsets were seized.
Two days later, more high-risk prisoners were moved to Building 13.
On June 5, the first attack at a prison officers home occurred.
The officer was at his home in Malabar with his girlfriend when gunmen began shooting up his home. He escaped injury. With TTPS and TTDF masked officers conducting frequent surveillance, the criminals found more innovative ways to get contraband into the prisons. They began using drones to drop packages near the fences.
On June 12, a package was thrown over the eastern perimeter fence of the Golden Grove Prison but quick work by law enforcement led to arrests.
Commissioner Griffith and the Special Operations Response Team (SORT) conducted raids and recovered one revolver, two pistols, one AR15, three magazines, 27 rounds of assorted ammunition, and several C-4 components and materials buried outside the prison walls.
Griffith and Pulchan utilised the Airguard to stop contraband.
On July 10, prisons officer I, Mark Maharaj, who is attached to the Port-of-Spain Prison, was charged after he was found with a quantity of contraband including several packages of plant-like substance wrapped in electrical and masking tape, cash, and a data cable. A substantial sum of cash was seized from his car.
Five days later Prisons Officer I, Christopher Karim, was also charged for possession of
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contraband during a routine search at Carera prison.
On July 24, a search warrant was executed at the residence of Prisons Officer I #3412, Jade Gibbs, who has over fifteen years of service and marijuana seized.
As more officers were arrested and prisoners were uprooted from their comfort zones, things got worse in MSP.
Chaos at Building 13
On July 23, Building 13 was renamed the Wayne Jackson Building in honour of the slain superintendent. Prison officers were no longer the ones manning the buildings. Instead, hand-picked trustworthy officers from the TTPS and TTDF began guarding the building ensuring that the prisoners did not get the opportunity to have parties and have phone and internet connections at their leisure.
Pulchan kept his team motivated ensuring that promotions occurred despite the challenges of the pandemic.
On July 26, a total of 176 officers were promoted to Prison Officers 11.
But two days later four high-risk prisoners who were transferred to the Wayne Jackson Building set fire to their mattresses in protest of the move.
A source said even though violence increased in the Wayne Jackson Building, the removal of the high-risk prisoners made other prison areas safer.
“In POS prison, Remand Yard and Golden Grove, all those places got cool. Less violence but all the violence was concentrated in Building 13,” a prison source said.
On August 21, a coordinated search was done on Building 13.
By August when Commissioner Griffith’s contract ended, things began unravelling for prison officers.
“Griffith worked in tandem with Commissioner Pulchan and the Defence Force which created an atmosphere where only police officers and soldiers were manning Building 13. There was minimal input from Prison. That was a successful arrangement but the minute Gary demitted office and left, they had to revert to prison officers overseeing these criminals in Building 13 and that caused the inmates up there in Building 13 to literally see the prison officers as soft targets and go after them to assassinate,” the source added.
In an interview with Guardian Media on December 1, Pulchan said criminals were also finding new ways to get contraband into the prisons.
“One of the latest trends in trafficking is the use of drones. The drones are flying over the prison and dropping packages. We are grappling with that problem now,” he said at the time.
On August 4, a drone was intercepted and a warning was issued that anyone flying drones near the prisons will face charges.
More surveillance led to the arrest of Prisons Officer I #4512, Stariel Charles, who has over seven years of service who was charged after being found with cigarettes, a mobile phone and headsets.
On August 5, prisoner Yadullah Mohammed died and Pulchan dismissed rumours that he died from vaccination. The Commissioner ramped up COVID prevention protocols and in September the US Embassy donated 20,000 masks.
Following the August 21 unrest at Building 13 and calls for improvement in conditions, Pulchan issued a statement denying that conditions there were horrid. He said the dormitory-style building had larger cells with a toilet and water in each cell.
“The bathrooms are more spacious which allow for communal bathing on each floor, with water supplied from a tank-farm with a 20,000-gallon water capacity,” Pulchan said.
On September 13, prisoner Nigel Mungroo escaped and was recaptured.
By October as the crackdown at Building 13 continued but when Griffith demitted office, the special units set up for the prisons were dismantled, a senior source said. Only prison officers with a clean record were asked to work at Building 13 despite threats to their lives.
13 prison officers marked for death
On November 26, the death threats became a reality when prison officer Trevor Serrette of Valencia was gunned down while operating his fruit and vegetable stall in Valencia. He had asked for a firearm but was refused. His colleagues believe he would have lived if he was armed.
Three days later, the nation was shocked when prison officer Nigel Jones of Siparia, was ambushed and killed in front of his three-year-old daughter. He was armed but never got the chance to respond, having been ambushed.
Since then calls have been made to train prison officers to deal with a possible ambush.
On December 1, president of the Prison Officers Association Ceron Richards revealed that inmates of Building 13 had threatened to kill 13 officers before Christmas unless they are relocated.
General secretary of the association Lester Walcott has said prison officers are refusing to work in Building 13 out of fear.
A day later Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley assured the country that the government was aware of the perils within the prisons but said the Ministry will not surrender the nation’s prisons to criminals.
Minister of National Security Fitzgerald Hinds assured that steps will be taken to protect officers.
Pulchan has continued his fight to stop contraband. On December 11, prison officer Warren Hercules was caught with 60 cigarettes when he reported for duty. Some fifteen minutes later, Prisons Officer I #3185 Kevin Byer was caught attempting to smuggle 539 grams of compressed plant-like material hidden in a food container. They had 19 and 21 years of service respectively.
Pulchan told Guardian Media that despite the challenges faced this year, he intends to work with the Ministry of National Security to make further improvements to the TT Prison Service next year.
