Escaping prisoners and hospitals

Jan 31, 2015 Editorial

The escape of prisoners from the Georgetown Public Hospital is becoming commonplace. In fact, it is nothing more than a joke when one hears that an injured prisoner who is confined to a hospital bed escapes from a fit policeman.
The prisons, despite having an infirmary, have the right to refuse to accept someone who has been injured in any way. This has always been the practice but sometimes not always carried out. Many have seen badly injured prisoners appearing before the court and then being made to return to the prison at the end of their hearing.
Some have had to be lifted to court in a stretcher but as one judge actually said, when a lawyer protested that his client was beaten, “The police are not on trial here.” On other occasions the victim would be the subject of a beating by the community then handed over to the court. After a court appearance he is taken to prison.
The prison has limited capability to deal with seriously injured criminals so it is left for the authorities to take the injured person to hospital. Usually, the sick prisoner is handcuffed to his bed. Today, it would seem that those handcuffs are incapable of securing the prisoner. These people open the lock and flee.
In one case, a fleeing prisoner attracted a volley of shots from the policeman who forgot that he was in a hospital. Of course all the shots missed the prisoner who made a successful dash to freedom. In another case, an injured prisoner succeeded in disarming a policeman and escaping. When he was cornered, he used the very policeman’s gun to kill one of his pursuers.
History is full of injured people making their way out of the hospital and escaping from custody. One man who had his face blown off and caused many to think that he was dead at the scene of the shooting is also at large. He was taken to the hospital and up to now, remains at large.
This week news came that a suspected bandit was shot in the buttocks and had to be confined to a bed in the Georgetown Public Hospital. There were photographs to show that the prisoner was not shackled so it came as no surprise to learn that this prisoner has now joined the ranks of the escapees.
One view is that, relatives of the prisoner would offer the policeman (something) to turn a blind eye while the prisoner makes himself scarce. And there is enough evidence to believe this, especially when he sees what happens in other circumstances.
We have seen policemen making drug busts and later releasing the drug to the trafficker after the latter pays over a sum that is found to be satisfactory to the arresting rank. Traffic ranks are the most common of those who reach out for the pocket.
The argument is that the police are poorly paid and this may very well be the case. However, one would have expected that their training would make them realize the difference between a few dollars and their long term survival in the police force. Even if the offer is one month’s salary, that cannot compensate for releasing one prisoner.
In cases where there is no exchange of an incentive, the policeman must be made to explain how a sick man could escape from his custody. Are policemen undertrained? Do they lack appreciation for their job?
The Ministry of Home Affairs may wish to construct a special section in the Georgetown Public Hospital for injured prisoners, since the hospital is no prison and since a prisoner could place the life of others on the ward at risk.
Guyana must be the only place where such escapes occur. There are escapes from the very prisons and that could be expected. A prisoner has all the time to plan his escape but when the establishment makes that escape much easier placing incompetent ranks to stand guard, then something needs to be done to the system.

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Escaping prisoners and hospitals

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