Correctional Officers Complete Course in Search Procedures

Twenty-seven officers from the Department of Correctional Services have completed a two-week training course, to familiarise them with techniques in systematic search procedures using detection equipment.
Certificates were presented to them on January 21 at a graduation ceremony held at the Caribbean Search Centre (CSC), situated at the Jamaica Police Academy in Twickenham Park, St. Catherine.
Training was conducted by instructors from the Jamaica Constabulary Force, the Jamaica Defence Force and the Customs Department. This is the third batch of correctional officers to be trained by the CSC, and a total of 86 to be trained at the centre since it was opened in June 2001.
Giving an overview of the course, Director of the CSC, Senior Superintendent Henry Biggs said that it was designed to train participants to conduct non-disruptive systematic searches of buildings, motor vehicles, prisons and persons. The course also focused on defensive searches, crime scene management and evidence awareness, health and safety, documentation and rules of evidence.
During a practical exercise, Superintendent Biggs said searches conducted by the graduands at two penal institutions within a two-hour period, netted three cellular telephones, four telephone chargers, six jammers, 120 balls of ganja and over $5,000 in different currencies.
“Providing they continue to employ the techniques taught during the course, they should prove to be a direct asset to their various institutions, and should make a marked difference whenever searches are conducted,” he said.
In his remarks, Commissioner of Corrections, Major Richard Reese said that institutional searches conducted have been “successful” in securing large quantities of contraband thrown over the walls of penal institutions. “We have to continue working on it to improve,” he emphasised.
The Commissioner said the organisation would continue to train personnel to execute search operations in a professional and efficient manner. “Our mission was to try and train all of two ranks in the entire organisation in one year. We almost made it,” he said, adding that within the next four months, all Corporals in the organisation would be trained.
The CSC is joint security venture between the British and Jamaican governments. Its mission is to provide search training, advise Caribbean law enforcement agencies and execute systematic search operations.