Heroes behind prison walls
Published:Wednesday | October 23, 2019 | 12:28 AM
THE EDITOR, Sir:
Heroes’ Day is being celebrated in Jamaica this week and it is a fitting time to pay homage to those in the correctional system who make their living by serving from behind the bars.
They are daily laying down their lives. It is a tough profession – delicately balancing sternness and humanity, according constitutional rights of the incarcerated. Their duty also requires a tough exterior, having intimate knowledge of the secret ‘dark’ side of many murderers, rapists and other violent crimes.
There must be a helpline for these ‘crime-fighters’, who can just tell by their years of experience, their ‘gut’, those who are truly guilty of heinous crimes. Prison wardens do sit on a curious side of the fence in the war against crime.
The warder is fully aware, too, of the dangers they face on a daily basis. Metal bars do not grill the heartless cold machine of the ‘dons’. These personnel have to literally watch their backs. They know that the criminal network has connections that extend inside the barb wire fences. These hardened criminals communicate effectively, even without telephones or visitors.
Nuff respect to those heroes serving behind prison walls.
UL JEM