New lock-up officially opened

The new RCIPS Detention Centre on Fairbanks Road

(CNS): The new police detention centre for prisoners on remand at Fairbanks was officially opened this week, replacing cells at the West Bay and George Town police stations that had been condemned by UK prison inspectors and described as “18th century cages” by the Cayman Islands Commissioner of Police David Baines. Noting that the temperature in the old cells can reach 110 degrees, he said, “We’re lucky we haven’t been sued for constructive torture of those individuals.”

The 2012 UK prison inspection report found that the old police lock-ups were not fit for human habitation and called for major improvements for the way persons where held into custody.

Ben Tonner, the acting chairman of the Human Rights Commission, said that the facility was constructed to be in keeping with the UK human rights and safety guide lines and as a result the cells are safer. He also noted that the facility provides the required separation of men, woman and juveniles prisoners, and that the custody officers had been properly trained on how to treat the detainees with respect.

The new lock-up has 12 cells and can hold a maximum of 24 people at one time, including the mentally ill, and can be constantly monitored by CCTV cameras.

Inside the new RCIPS Detention Centre

Addressing a small crowd of government and privates sector guest to the facility, Baines said that when he arrived here, prisoners could be arrested and be held for 12 days before they went to court. “We changed the law about prisoner rights and how you deal with a prisoner that is in custody,” he said, noting that now they have also dealt with the issue of the building.

The facility is audio and video monitored once you step in the door.  The commissioner told the press that he believes the new facility could be the best in the Caribbean.

Now that the Detention Centre is open, the Central and West Bay custody suits will no longer be in operation and anyone who is arrested will be processed at the new location, which is right next to the women’s prison and Immigration Detention Centre off Fairbanks Road in George Town.

The new facility will also be where a person under investigation will have to go when answering their bail obligations.