A former prison officer has spoken out about the lack of support he received after experiencing traumatic events while on the job. The officer witnessed a suicide and murder on the same day, as well as being attacked by inmates five times. He claims that he felt pressured to continue working despite the trauma, due to low staffing levels. He also alleged that management did not follow the Ministry of Justice’s guidelines on taking time off after being assaulted multiple times in a week.
The former officer, who wished to remain anonymous, joined the prison service at 18 because he was attracted to the self-discipline and integrity the role requires. He claims he was not provided with the support he expected and management failed to arrange support after serious incidents, as was protocol. The officer believes that the failures in management put staff and prisoners at risk and urged the MoJ to increase staffing levels for safety.
The former officer worked at HMP Birmingham and Long Lartin in Worcestershire during his time as a prison officer. He left the role after three years, citing a lack of support from management. The officer stated that he spoke out because of concerns that officers who questioned the integrity of management were forced out of the service or moved to another prison.
Earlier this month, over 2,000 prisoners were released early to ease the prisons crisis, serving 40% of their sentence rather than 50%. The former officer was skeptical as to whether this would make any difference due to concerns over rehabilitation and reoffending rates.
A Ministry of Justice spokesperson admitted that a relatively inexperienced workforce, due to the loss of experienced staff, put significant pressure on the justice system, but that they were continuously improving support for staff
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