The Tribune

By RICARDO WELLS

Tribune Staff Reporter

rwells@tribunemedia.net

OFFICIALS at the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services in Fox Hill dedicated and opened the new Security Intelligence Unit yesterday hoping that it will be “a major part” of the institution’s “strengthened security plan”.

National Security Minister Dr Bernard Nottage said that the new unit will “immediately assist” prison officials in “the surveillance, intelligence and the detection and confiscation of banned contraband” in and out of the prison.

“This is another red letter day in the history of the Bahamas as we press forward with the mandate to improve the Department of the Correctional Services,” Dr Nottage said.

“The Security Intelligence Unit is a united effort towards a shared goal between a number of departments across national security.”

According to Dr Nottage, the unit will gather and pool information deemed “critical to the fights against crime, immigration and trafficking”.

The new SIU will then use this database throughout the Ministry of National Security as a part of a new proactive approach to fighting criminal activity.

Department of Correctional Services commissioner Patrick Wright said: “This unit will now become the backbone of the department. In modern facilities around the world, information is key. That is what this facility will work to provide – information. What we then do with that information will then determine the success of this operation.”

Mr Wright added: “Prior to the holiday I provided the minister with a detailed report on items seized in the prison. That list included drugs, food items, prison supplies and a number of other illegal items found in the cells of inmates. That report showed that we have a serious problem that we need to fix.

“We are working to rid ourselves of a serious, serious problem. The apprehension of contraband is a big deal to us, in fact it is not only a serious problem here, it is a serious problem for prisons around the world. The larger the prison the larger the problem. This unit will work to track and monitor items and persons coming in and out of our facility.”

He said that anyone found trying to smuggle any contraband into the prison will be tried and brought to justice.

He said: “I want persons to know that if they are found with their hands in the cookie jar, we will work well within the law to chop that hand off.”

Mr Wright said that the creation of the unit cost the government roughly $50,000 to repair and refurbish an existing structure on the Fox Hill compound. The new SIU is housed in the remains of what used to be the residence of the prison’s chaplain.

The opening of the new Security Intelligence Unit signalled another accomplishment on the list of measures detailed in the Correctional Services Act, which mandated major reforms in the nation’s prison system.

Last month, officials at the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services opened a newly constructed 40-unit dormitory complex.

The Correctional Services Act allowed the prison system to be renamed the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services; bring new leadership titles including a commissioner, a deputy commissioner and an assistant to the deputy.