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Credit to Correctional Services

The Secretary for Security, Mr Alistair Asprey, today (Friday) said the Correctional Services Department (CSD) had a well-deserved reputation for its high standards.

Speaking at a passing-out parade at CSD's Staff Training Institute in Stanley this afternoon, Mr Asprey said the work of Correctional Services Officers was made more demanding by the problem of overcrowding in prisons.

"This problem is particularly pressing, because of the large numbers of illegal immigrants and overstayers now in custody.

"I am aware of the effect that this problem has on staff morale as well as the stress it places on the management of our institutions," he said.

He was also aware of the difficulties and pressure that the staff were encountering every day in the management of Vietnamese Migrants detention centres. Currently, there are about 17,000 Vietnamese migrants under the Department's custody.

"These people are not prisoners, and their care and safety requires skills different from those used in penal institutions.

"It is a credit to the Department that this task has been carried out with dedication, at times in the face of great pressure," he pointed out.

Mr Asprey noted that a great deal of important work went on behind the scenes, often unnoticed by the public. It was a growing emphasis on the need to rehabilitate prisoners.

"The Department had made great efforts to develop a comprehensive range of rehabilitation programmes to cater for different types of prisoners.

"These programmes aim to restore self- discipline and instil a sense of personal responsibility into prisoners to enable them to re-integrate into society as law-abiding citizens," he said.