Latest update November 5th, 2024 1:37 AM
Prison boss leaves, no immediate replacement in sight
Longstanding Director of Prisons, Dale Erskine is on pre-retirement leave and the Ministry of Home Affairs is now on the lookout for someone to replace him.
Erskine completed 32 years of service to Guyana’s penal system and has hung up his gloves on a career that was punctuated with some great highs and some devastating lows.
Director of Prisons Dale Erskine
One can easily look back on his tenure at the helm of the Guyana Prison Service and recall the infamous jailbreak of 2002, when five dangerous criminals made good their escape, killing a prison officer and critically wounding another in the process. That escape led to a crime wave that essentially placed Guyana under duress.
But Erskine could take credit in the fact that he headed the Prison Service at a time when the local prison facilities were bursting at the seams, and the government refused to lift a finger to alleviate the problem of overcrowding.
In fact, in December 2006, Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee announced that the government had no plans to construct a prison away from the city. He was responding to a question from Alliance For Change Member of Parliament, Raphael Trotman (now Speaker of the National Assembly).
The question was in keeping with recommendations made during two commissions of inquiry, including the Disciplined Services Commission.
Earlier in 2006, a senior prison official had called for the immediate implementation of recommendations to build a new prison to avert a major disaster at the existing facility at Camp Street.
This was after three high profile prisoners attempted to emulate their 2002 Mash Day jailbreak counterparts.
This was not the only trial for Erskine, who withstood scandal after scandal, including security breaches.
But according to his many well-wishers who attended a special farewell function for him a few days ago, he used all of his administrative skills to stand firm as head of an organization, which, while not as high profile as others in the criminal justice system, was equally important.
His departure has left the service without a substantive successor from within the actual prison system.
Presently, Retired Assistant Commissioner Welton Trotz, who previously served as Erskine’s Deputy, is the Acting Director. According to top sources in the Ministry of Home Affairs, Trotz is unlikely to be confirmed as the substantive head of the Guyana Prison Service.
There is talk that another serving Assistant Commissioner of Police could be sent to run the prison service.
“Whoever is the choice, filling Erskine’s shoes will take a very big foot,” a source at the Ministry of Home Affairs told Kaieteur News.
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