When will smuggling of contraband in the prison system be stopped by these correctional officers in Jamaica ?
When will all this stop? The correctional component
of the criminal justice system is responsible for or in charge of the
court-ordered sentencing and punishment of criminals. Offenders who have been
found guilty of a crime in court will be sentenced to prison, where they are
separated from the rest of society and are constantly under the supervision of
a correctional officer twenty-four hours a day (Goodwin University, 2021). In
correctional institutions, correctional officers are there to enforce rules,
maintain law and order in the prisons, supervise inmates, help convicts with
rehabilitation, search inmates and check for contraband items. Therefore, in
today’s blog post we will be focusing on a South Camp Correctional Officer who was
arrested for smuggling contraband into the facility. Whereas the ethical issue
of correctional officers bringing contraband into prison facilities is illegal
and such acts are a breach of the corrections act and the ethical guidelines of
correctional officers, however, correctional officers who are involved in such
illegal acts should be punished.
A correctional officer at the South Camp Adult
Correctional Centre has been charged with sneaking contraband into the prison
facility. Sophia Meek of a St. Mary address has been convicted of
transporting contraband into a correctional institution by having ganja in her
possession. On Monday, April 26, 2021, the police swooped down on Meek at the St.
Andrew-based prison. Based on intelligence, her locker was reportedly searched
and many packages of compressed ganja, as well as cell phones, were discovered.
The planned raid came the day after the prison underwent a pre-dawn search.
Inmates are said to have more than 20 phones and other illegal goods that were
seized from them (The Star, 2021).
In this case, what was the ethical issue present?
The ethical issue was the correctional officer was introducing contraband into
a prison facility. According to the Corrections Act of Jamaica Part 1-
Preliminary Section 13 subsection (c)
states that Any member of the adult correctional centre staff who without
lawful authority- (i) knowingly supplies or allows to be supplied to any inmate
any prohibited article; or (ii) knowingly takes or allows to be taken out of
any adult correctional centre any prohibited article, shall be guilty of an
offence under this Act and liable on summary conviction before a Resident
Magistrate to a fine not exceeding five hundred dollars or to imprisonment for
any term not exceeding six months(The Corrections Act, 1985). According to Section 80 subsection (a) and (b)
states, Every person who without lawful authority (a) conveys, supplies, or causes to be
conveyed or supplied to any inmate or hides or places for his use, any
prohibited articles; or brings or attempts by any means to introduce into a
correctional institution, or places or attempts to place where inmates work,
any prohibited article; shall be guilty of an offence under this Act and liable
on summary conviction before a Resident Magistrate to a fine not exceeding one
thousand dollars or imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year. (The Corrections Act, 1985) As the act stated any
correctional officer who supply any prohibited article to any inmates or takes
a prohibited items in prison shall be found guilty of an offense. When will all
this corruption stop? For instance, in this video that was published on YouTube
by My Views TV in that video we can see prisoners partying with a huge amount
of money, Hennessy, weed and many more contraband items the question is how can
an inmate get Hennessy in prison? Is this the level of our prison system, where
offenders are not getting no form of rehabilitation, they are sitting in prison
partying? (My View TV, 2020) Jamaica’s
Prison system needs a renovation. What should happen to a correctional officer
who was smuggling contraband in the prison facility? Correctional officers have
a duty to supervise inmates and maintain law and order in prison yes it can be
difficult because of interacting with criminals on a day-to-day basis but they
should follow the ethical guidelines and uphold integrity. Furthermore,
correctional officer should uphold the laws in prisons not aiding in breaking
those laws. How will our prison strive if this is the behavior of our
correctional officers? Prison is an institution where offenders are deprived of
freedom, autonomy, offenders are placed in prison to serve their sentence and
get rehabilitation. How can prison be a place that inmates are getting what
they want? This correctional officer is just so wrong she had been trafficking
these illegal items for some time now. Does these correctional officers have a
personal code of ethics that one comply with? why are they involved in these illegal
and unethical actions? Correctional officers who are caught in these acts
should get the full length of the law; the Jamaica justice system needs to deal
with these corrupt correctional officers like criminals because they are
displaying qualities of criminals. The Jamaican government needs to do a sweep
through in the correctional centers to get rid of these corrupt correctional
officers. It is such a relief to see
that this correctional officer was caught and is facing the consequences for
her misdeeds. This is a wake-up call for all those corrupt correctional
officers to desist from those actions and come clean to the authorities.
In Summary, Whereas the ethical issue of
correctional officer bringing contraband into the prison facility is illegal
and such acts are a breach of the corrections act and the ethical guidelines of
the correctional officers however, correctional officers who involve in such
illegal acts should be punished. Based on the case that was discussed about the
correctional officer who had smuggled contraband in the prison facility. Is it
ethical for a correctional officer one who took an oath to uphold law and order
in the prison facility to take part in such activities? Why are our
correctional officers involved in such activities? Based on the case of the
correctional officer who was charged with smuggling contraband from the search
it is evident that this particular correctional officer has been introducing
contraband in the prison for some time now. According to the Corrections Act
Section 13 subsection (c) and Section 80 subsection (a) and (b) the correctional
officer had breached a number of important guidelines for transporting
contraband in a prison system. On social media we can see inmates partying and
using contrabands to video and call whosoever they want. A correctional Centre
is a place where offender are kept serving their sentence, get rehabilitation
and become good citizens of society when they are reintegrated.
The video down below is discussing the same case
that was discussed previously, Mr. Brown a youtuber is discussing the level of corruption
in prison system please take a look at the video and comment your thoughts down
below (Wayne “Lonesome” Brown, 2021).
Video by: Wayne Brown - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l4BVi8pyccw
References
The Corrections Act.
(1985,
December 2), enactedhttps://moj.gov.jm/sites/default/files/laws/The%20Corrections%20Act.pdf
Goodwin University. (2021, August 11). 3
Components of the Criminal Justice System.
https://www.goodwin.edu/enews/components-criminal-justice/
My View TV. (2020, November 21). BREAKING
NEWS| Spanish Town Prisoners Drinking, Smoking & Having A Good Time Behind
Bars [Video]. YouTube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WpAPGbRb81E&t=248s
The Star. (2021, April 27). South Camp
correctional officer arrested for smuggling contraband. News | Jamaica
Star.
http://jamaica-star.com/article/news/20210427/south-camp-correctional-officer-arrested-smuggling-contraband
Wayne “Lonesome” Brown. (2021, May 3). Criminal
prison wardens arrested in a week, for trafficking contraband in south camp
& Horizon prison [Video]. YouTube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l4BVi8pyccw
very informative. this is indeed a big issue and it needs to stop.
ReplyDeleteThis issue in the prison system is well known .. these correctional officers if they have a code of ethics they are not following it which is not good .. this needs to stop either these officers are punished or fired.Very educational and engaging blog.
ReplyDeletethis is very educational for the correctional officers that are working in prison. this case speaks about corruption and these correctional officers should stop smuggling contraband items in prisons if we have some serious correctional officers it would have been a different story.
ReplyDelete