Prison Weakness: 1,000 convicts released each year, up to 500 returning

Damion Mitchell/Integration Editor

Police Commissioner Major General Antony Anderson has acknowledged that there are weaknesses in Jamaica's prison system.

Speaking at a press conference Tuesday, Anderson revealed that around 1,000 convicts are released each year after completing their sentences.

And according to the commissioner, around 500 or so will reoffend and return.

These include people who would have served time for serious offences.

“Other parts of the system need work,” said Anderson.

For years, human rights advocates have decried the poor physical conditions in Jamaica's prisons and the absence of structured rehabilitation programmes to reduce reoffending.

The rehabilitation deficit has worsened since the COVID pandemic.

Based on Anderson's revelation today, there has been no significant improvement in the reoffending rate in almost a decade.

In 2014, the Auditor General reported that over the five years 2008 to 2013, the reoffending rate was 51 per cent.

This includes people who previously had non-custodial sentences.

However, the DCS had been calculating the reoffending rate at 27 per cent because it ignored previously non-custodial convicts.

The Auditor General said as a consequence, information provided by the DCS to stakeholders, like the Ministry of National Security could negatively impact strategic responses.

Meanwhile, Anderson said the police will continue to work to reduce crime.

“I can assure the Jamaican public that our part of this process is being worked. It is being worked effectively,” said Anderson.

He had earlier announced a 6 per cent decline in murders and an 18 per cent overall drop in serious crimes.

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