Justice Minister Kim Wilkerson, says the government expects to receive ‘shortly’ the findings of an external review into Bermuda’s correctional facilities.
The statement follows last weekend incident at the Westgate Correctional Facility that left at least one Corrections Officer requiring medical attention following an assault by two high risk inmates.
‘An external review is already underway, which includes assessing any vulnerabilities within the Department of Corrections’ security protocols as part of the wider International Detention Standards Review recently carried out by an independent peer-review team comprising senior corrections leaders from the United Kingdom, Cayman Islands, and Turks and Caicos.
‘I expect to shortly receive their findings and recommendations for implementing the appropriate actions arising from this international assessment,’ Wilkerson said in a statement.
The Acting Commissioner of Corrections, James Howard, said the incident is being treated with the ‘utmost seriousness and is currently under active review’ and that the Bermuda Police Service has been notified and is ‘conducting the appropriate inquiries.’
But the chairman of the Prison Officers Association, (POA), Timothy Seon, told the Royal Gazette newspaper that the attack on the prison officer by two men facing murder charges, was bound to happen owing to government cost cutting measures.
He said that while the officer is understood to have violated policy by allowing both of the men out of their cells at the same time, compliance with procedure was hindered by ongoing systemic challenges – including a lack of staff and shortcuts in training.
‘There are a lot of mitigating factors that created the perfect storm for this incident to happen on Sunday,’ Seon said.
In a statement, the Ministry of Justice that appropriate operational steps were taken immediately following the incident to ensure the continued safety and security of the facility.
It said that the review will measure Bermuda’s correctional facilities against recognised global benchmarks, including the United Nations’ Nelson Mandela Rules and that international recruitment is underway to strengthen staffing capacity.