The crisis at High Down is real and is the same crisis going on in all our prisons. I am a serving officer of 26 years and I have never seen it so bad.
The government have reduced staffing levels to such an extent forcing every prison to lock down whole wings on a daily basis. In some prisons 2 to 3 wings are locked down at the same time.
I don't know where the management get their figures, but assaults have increased tenfold since benchmarking was introduced. The prisoner to staff ratio is now 1 -30, ridiculous.
When the spokeswoman says assaults have decreased, they fiddle their figures and most go unreported.
We as a professional body would like an independent investigation into how our prisons are being managed and how much political corruption is involved. Trust me, they lie about figures, rehabilitation the lot. It's a total disgrace. We can't say anything, our hands are tied. Please, if you can, make enquiries and report what you find.
It will be a big help to all taxpayers to get the truth behind the crisis in our prisons.
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