Musical chairs

THERE’S BEEN a game of musical chairs, it seems, at the top of the Prison Service over the last few months.

When Gerard Wilson was confirmed in the post of Commissioner of Prisons last August, it was hoped this appointment had brought to an end the period in which the position was filled by an acting official. That was not to be. It emerged that Wilson, whose appointment was backdated to November 2017, would proceed on pre-retirement leave towards the end of last year.

Acting Prison Commissioner Dane Clarke then took over, his fourth stint in the post. But last Thursday, the Prison Service announced Clarke, too, was to go on pre-retirement leave and is now succeeded by a new acting commissioner, Dennis Pulchan.

We do not begrudge anyone his entitlement to go on pre-retirement leave. Nor do we deny merit in a system which sees people act in a post as a kind of probation pending full appointment. The slow pace of the public service, including the length of time key service commissions take in deliberating, processing and then confirming appointments, is undoubtedly a factor in this turn of events.

However, when we have three individuals in the top position in the space of a few months, that can hardly assist in the implementation of reforms or improvements in the Prison Service as a whole. And while it may well create the impression that everyone can, eventually, get a bite at the cherry, so many fluctuations at the top might also have an adverse impact on the sense of stability so crucial to building morale in any hierarchical organisation. It also undercuts accountability when an official is in post with the knowledge that they are simply on their way out.

We make no suggestion, whatsoever, that the latter applies to any of the three individuals named. Nor do we blame them for the system in which they have had to operate. Indeed, they are deserving of praise for their commitment to service. For example, Clarke served over 35 years in departments as various as: operations, administration, procurement and programmes.

We wish Pulchan best of luck as he enters this key position amid concerns over conditions, overcrowding, and the breakdown of security. Both prison officers and their charges have come under attack in recent years. Just last month, prison guards found an inmate dead at the Golden Grove Maximum Security Prison, Arouca. A month prior, a detainee at the same facility died at hospital after falling ill in the jail.

There is a clear risk of the Prison Service going the way of the Police Service, which, before its most recent top cop appointment, endured successive acting Commissioners of Police. Just as there was disquiet over that state of affairs, so too must there be concern over this one.