Another part of the problem, which is being taken into consideration, and which is a matter frequently spoken about in Anguilla, is the incarceration of juveniles in the company of seasoned criminals. The concern is that such action may only worsen the behavioural attitudes of young offenders thus negatively impacting their chances of reformation.

Mr. Gumbs, who attended a recent Criminal Justice Conference in Tortola, was of the view that the most interesting part of that meeting was when the Superintendent of Prisons held their particular session and reported back to the general assembly. “In our session we came up with six objectives that we would like to accomplish between now and 2010,” he told The Anguillian. “The most outstanding one to me was the objective relating to the handling of juveniles. It is a problem that is spreading throughout the region rapidly and most of the territories do not have any proper place to house juvenile offenders and that is a big hurdle.

“That was discussed along with the rising serious crimes among juveniles such as robbery and murder…We came up with a plan that the Governments of the territories should build a separate centre for these juveniles and not for them to be housed with hardcore criminals as this would graduate them into real criminals. You can bend a tree when it is tender, but when it is grown, you can’t bend it. We therefore feel that that these young offenders should be housed separately from the older offenders.”

Mr. Gumbs stated that it was a serious issue in Anguilla, but acknowledged that efforts were being finalised to have an alternative place for convicted juveniles. He noted that, in the meantime, “Whenever a juvenile commits a heinous crime and is charged and found guilty, he has come to be imprisoned. We don’t have anywhere else to house him but to put him among senior criminals.”

Another prison problem he pointed out was the housing of female prisoners. “About two of the territories represented at the conference, including Anguilla, do not have any adequate place to house females and crime among females is on the increase as well,” he reported. “This is another problem we are facing which also needs to be looked at as soon as possible.”

The Anguillian Prison Superintendent said that among the six objectives he and his colleagues came up with was the need for Prison Officers to be properly trained to deal with the type of persons being incarcerated these days. “The other objectives included enhancing our security manual as it is now about 15 or 20 years since we had the present one,” he continued. “A special place will be arranged in one of the territories where all the Training Officers will meet to discuss the changes that we intend to make to the document.”

Mr. Gumbs further reported that the parole of prisoners was another matter which came up in the conference session for Prison Superintendents. “Anguilla and Tortola are the two remaining territories without the parole system in place,” he observed. “During the session, the article carried in April by The Anguillian in which I spoke about the need for a parole of prisoners, came in for high praise and was therefore well appreciated. Tortola was encouraged to call on me, if necessary, to speak to the people there to accept parole for prisoners.” Mr. Gumbs’ comments came as the Anguilla House of Assembly is to give consideration to draft legislation to introduce a parole system for prisoners which has already been discussed at a public forum.

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