A GROWING drugs problem, daily violence, filthy conditions, lack of control and a constant problem of drones dropping weapons, escape kits, drugs and mobile phones – welcome to the world of prison officers at HMP Hewell.
They were speaking out at a ‘day of action’ organised by the Prison Officers Association across the country in protest at the conditions they face day in, day out.
“We’re doing this to raise awareness of the threat to the health and safety of staff and prisoners in our care,” said a POA spokesman.
“The situation is so bad there have been riots at Bedford Prison, two escaped from Pentonville last week and it’s happening up and down the country.
“The conditions are deplorable – we have assaults prisoner on prisoner, prisoner on staff and self harm. There is simply not enough staff to run the prison safely and as a result staff are being put under tremendous pressure to do overtime, so there is no rest,” added the spokesman.
And even as we spoke to the protesters news filtered out from inside HMP Hewell that one of their fellow officers have been attacked and was on his way to hospital.
The staffing situation is so bad that the profession is losing more people than it can recruit and although Justice Secretary Liz Truss has promised an additional 2,000 officers but members of the POA say it just does not go far enough.
“The safety issue is so great it’s not worth the money – a newcomer would be on something like £18,000 a year and for the danger they face you can’t keep them for the first three weeks let alone a year,” said the spokesman.
A fellow prison officer said four easy and cheap steps could be taken to relieve the pressure prisons:
1) The use of drones to deliver drugs, phones and weapons was a constant and growing problem – yet simple and available Army technology could stop them.
2) The use of mobile phone blockers to stop prisoners making and receiving calls.
3) Making proper and lasting repairs to cells and the general fabric of the building.
4) The ability to move troublemakers around to defuse flashpoints to maintain order and stability in the establishment.
“We’re not asking for big pay rises, although an officer here has only had a £250 rise in seven years of working here,” he said.
“We just want the public to know what the situation is like here and we’re taking this step out of frustration at the lack of action.
“This is not against our Governor, but they need more support from above. We want to be proud to work here again and the bottom line is we are keeping prisoners in dirty filthy conditions and we just cannot keep them safe.”
Another prison officer said: “The synthetic drugs that are coming in are awful and they are doing untold damage. Another issue is prisoners getting in touch with the family on the outside of another prisoner they are bullying and demanding money from them for drugs.
“They say we’re the forgotten service and in truth, no one knows what goes on behind these walls.”
Redditch MP Karen Lumley said: “Our prison officers do a fantastic job and I have every sympathy for their situation.
“One of the huge issues is drugs and drones flying in even to specific windows at the prison and I think we need to look at our prisons in a different way to prevent this from happening because once the drugs and phones are inside it is very difficult for the officers to gain control.
“If we can address that I actually feel it would be easier for the prison officers to do their job.”
The action ended when the High Court ordered prison officers to end their protest and go back to work following legal action brought by the Government.
