The Protection Aspect of Security

Whilst education and training are an important part of promoting the rehabilitation of prisoners its work has to be carried out within the constraints imposed by the need for security. This comprises:

  1. Protecting the public by keeping in custody those committed to prison by the courts
  2. Protecting prisoners whilst they are in custody as part of looking after prisoners with humanity
  3. Protecting the staff working in prisons so that they can carry out their duties in safety

The Prison Service is committed to protecting the public by holding prisoners securely and pursuing policies to reduce re-offending. However, its core business is to keep prisoners in custody. Consequently, security is the bedrock on which all its efforts to develop positive regimes for rehabilitation are based. The service aims to strive continually to improve its excellent security record that has seen no escapes by the most dangerous or category “A” prisoners since 1995.

The prison service is not only required to keep the public safe from prisoners but also to keep prisoners safe from themselves, other prisoners and staff. For this reason a range of procedures are available to protect prisoners from self-harm, bullying and intimidation. One of the protection tools are the segregation units, which are used to hold prisoners being punished for breaking the prison rules or being held in solitary confinement because they are too dangerous to mix with other prisoners. Others kept in solitary are known self-harmers or in danger of attempting suicide. However, in recent years the "seg units" in some of the country’s high security estate are being used to accommodate prisoners who are so fearful for their own safety that they have asked to be isolated for their own protection. This new wave of fear and violence at the maximum security prisons is apparently due to the influx of rival gang members from Britain's inner cities. This new generation, which has been schooled in street gun and gang culture, bring with it deeply held gang allegiances. The problem has become so acute that it has become difficult to find enough category “A” accommodation to ensure that members from rival gangs, once sentenced, are separated into different prisons.

Operational staff are trained in the use of force using techniques of Control & Restraint with underlying principles of the “minimum force necessary”. Individuals carry radios and alarm bells are situated at many locations around the prison, including classrooms. These devices can be used to summon support in an emergency.