Acting Supt. Allister Richardson
Three key Prison Officers in Anguilla are each to attend a one-month job-shadowing training programme at a prison in the United Kingdom yet to be decided on.
The training is being funded by the Office of Her Excellency Governor Christina Scott who met with the prison officers recently. The selected trainees are Principal Officer Andreas Neverson, who is expected to participate in the programme in November; Senior Officer Carl Walker who should be going in January 2014; and Officer Carice Sasso, who is down to take part in the training in February/March.
In submitting the job shadowing proposal, Mr Vince Walker, Prison Consultant in Anguilla, said the objective of the training was to develop the prison’s three most promising officers by sending them to the UK to shadow prison managers in that setting. “By developing our most talented staff at this stage of their careers, we will ensure that Her Majesty’s Prison in Anguilla has a pool of appropriately trained staff for future managerial positions,” he noted.
Mr Walker further stated that due to limited financial resources and restricted training facilities, it was difficult to arrange quality training in security, custodial services and managerial skills for the Anguilla prison’s highest performing staff.
“Most of the training received by prison staff is on the job training delivered by senior staff who themselves have had limited training,” Mr Walker contended. “This project would enable the prison to send three staff [members], who have demonstrated the potential to be future managers, to the UK for a month at a time to shadow prison staff in the English & Welsh Custodial systems.”
The required FCO funding, through the Governor’s Office, for all three prison officers, amounts to US$19,800, or US$6,600 per one-month secondment.
Acting Superintendent of Prison, Allister Richardson, is pleased with the job shadowing training for the three prison officers. “It is important that we continue to prepare our middle management team for moving the prison forward,” he commented. “We are grateful to the Governor’s Office and to Vince Walker, our Consultant, for making this possible. There are many challenges in running an effective and efficient prison service in Anguilla and, like anywhere else, we need to stay up to date on new advances in the overall service delivery.”
Meanwhile, Mr Richardson took the opportunity to express delight that the prison had been able to get its long-awaited farming project off the ground. “I am very excited about this project because since 2002 we have been trying to move this forward and a lot of hard work has gone into the planning thus far,” he added. “I am grateful to Ms Shariffa Wallace, in particular, for her efforts – and to Mr William Vanterpool at the Department of Agriculture for his assistance.”
