Tighter security needed when transporting prisoners

Apr 08, 2009 Letters

Dear Editor,
Time and again we read of prisoners who would escape from police custody. In a number of cases this would entail their movement from prison to court or vice-versa.
It is often wondered why are prisoners not shackled when they are being removed from the prison to other destinations for whatever reason?
I find it very strange that high profile prisoners are not given that kind of attention. Time and again it is noticed that prisoners are allowed to mix/mingle with others when they are going to court. Is this permitted, or is our security system lacking a proper system?
Shackling of prisoners will put those who are transporting them at ease.
If prisoners were shackled at the ankles it would be hard for them to sprint away. I once saw a prisoner escaping from the stairway of Sparendaam Magistrate’s Court building. He jumped over the station’s fence and headed for the cemetery street. Luckily, he was recaptured after a few hours.
It is time too, for the establishing of Night Courts in order to reduce the backlog of cases as reported in the press. I think that it was the Chancellor, who once remarked that Magistrates do not give a full day’s work and that they need to do so.
It is also my firm belief that those found guilty of petty crimes should be made to do community service thus easing the overcrowding of the prison. In other words, people should not be made to serve one week, a month or two months of jail sentence where taxpayers’ money would feed them. (I am not sure whether when a person is fined and jailed if the fine is for his upkeep in prison). It would be a good thing if the police take measures to ensure that prisoners have very little chance of escaping by having the maximum use of their limbs.
(Name and Address Supplied)

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