Senior Reporter
Former prisons commissioner Gerard Wilson says he is concerned about the morale of the prison service after acting Prisons Commissioner Carlos Corraspe was sent on leave amidst allegations that he gave preferential treatment to detained businessman Dominic Hadeed.
Speaking with Guardian Media yesterday, Wilson, who served as commissioner from November 2017 to November 2019, warned against speculating over the circumstances behind Corraspe being sent on leave, stressing that he was no longer in a position to confirm or deny the allegations being made against him.
He, however, noted that such allegations were troubling to him, as they could bring the prison service into disrepute, as he was concerned that they could damage the morale of officers.
Wilson, therefore, hoped that the public would avoid making assumptions or coming to their own conclusions before the full facts of the situation were disclosed.
“As a person whose heart is still in the job, I would be concerned about what’s happening.
“I am concerned because this is not the first time something like that has happened with a commissioner being sent on leave and I know the officers and the public would be concerned.
“I don’t want to speculate what transpired, but I think the important thing is to get back that morale for the officers to comfort the prisoners in terms of them feeling there is some level of interest in their well-being and it is important to get to the bottom of what transpired, but to me what is most important is the T&T Prison Service and getting back that morale from those who may feel bewildered from what has happened.”
When asked if an investigation is usually initiated automatically in such a situation where an officer is accused of impropriety, Wilson said such a response was usually done by the Ministry of Homeland Security, which acts as the line ministry for the prison service, depending on what information they had on the allegations.
“If the minister and the PS found it necessary to take action, then they would have the information to take action.”
He maintained that while he was not privy to the details of what happened, special care was needed when accommodating “high-profile” inmates, as he continued to call for the prison service to directly address issues of morale.
“All we saw in the press was there was some indication that preferential treatment was being given, I think with the association coming together and looking at the situation that what is needed quickly is to boost the morale of the officers and not make the prison service look a particular way.
“My concern is how fast the prison recovers from this whole incident and I guess the Minister (of Homeland Security) may or may not give further information.”
Guardian Media attempted to contact Homeland Security Minister Roger Alexander several times on yesterday, but received no response up to press time.
Efforts were also made to contact Corraspe via phone and WhatsApp, but no response was received.
Questions sent to the T&T Prison Service corporate communications spokesperson via WhatsApp and email received no response.
President of the Prison Officers Association (POA), Gerard Gordon, declined to comment on the matter, as did former commissioners Deopersad Ramoutar and Dennis Pulchan.
