Prison Officers Benefit From Refresher Training Course

Basseterre, St. Kitts, January 05, 2022 (SKNIS): Twenty prison officers benefited from a refresher training course that sharpened their skills in several areas.

The course ran for two weeks in December. The first week focused on senior officers, and basic grade officers (junior officers) attended the second week. Areas covered during both weeks included an overview of the Prison’s history, Standing Orders relevant to Her Majesty’s Prison (HMP), weapons training, as well as practical report writing. However, the senior officers also covered topics such as ethics, morals and values, communication and assertiveness, as well as search techniques, while the basic grade officers had sessions on conflict resolution, use of force, and leadership.

HMP Training Consultant and Former Acting Superintendent of Prisons, Ashiela Connor, coordinated the Course, in addition to facilitating some of the sessions.  He said that he thought the two weeks went very well.

“The officers participated and there were a number of fierce discussions at times, especially when we did some prison-related subjects. Persons had their own opinion of things and so on and so we had a number of heated, but constructive arguments. I think persons would have learned from the discussions that we had. The training was necessary. It’s been a while since we did any and so the training was necessary. It reminded folks of things that needed to be done and should be done and showed folks a better way of doing things that wouldn’t augur well in terms of their overall development and the progression of the institution as a whole,” Mr. Connor explained.

During a modest closing ceremony on December 31, 2021, held in the Main Hall at the Prison, several of the officers received prizes for being the top performers in different areas. For the senior participants, Sergeant Tracy O’Loughlin was named the Top Performer in Class, while Best Range results for both small and large targets went to Principle Officer Desmond Solis, Best Report Writing went to Sergeant Kirsten Solis, and Principle Officer Shorna Herbert received an honourary mention as the best participating officer.

Among the basic grade officers, Jermaine Hendrickson was named the Top Performer in Class. There was a three-way tie for Best Range results and the prizes went to Basic Grade Officers Dylan Dias, Vance Elliott, and Tristan Johnson, while Best Report Writing went to Florence Mike. Basic Grade Officer Jornard Ramplyn was described as the best participating officer.