ROAD TOWN, BVI: The Prison Department in the British Virgin Islands will soon be implementing a Sentence Planning Programme for convicted prisoners starting first as a pilot for three months with ten inmates.
The programme aims to assist prisoners in changing their criminal lifestyles by taking advantage of opportunities to address their offending behaviours.
Officers at the Prison began a two-week workshop facilitated by Natalie Joseph Caesar, Education and Development Coordinator at Her Majesty’s Prison in the Cayman Islands. Mrs. Ceasar is also assisting the prison with the implementation of the programme.
Acting Superintendent of the Prison, Kenton Callwood, says the programme is an initiative which is being implemented in all the Overseas Territories through the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
Callwood says the programme will help officers better manage the prisoners so that when they return to society, they are better citizens.
Callwood says in order for the programme to work, they need the support of everyone, the officers, community, key Government departments and social stakeholders.
Caesar says policies will be developed to ensure the proper recording and assessing of inmates so that they are appropriately placed in the programme.
She says the total aim of the programme is to protect the public and reduce victims of crime.
Caesar says the benefits are less crime, less persons returning to prison and a more peaceful prison society.
Additionally, Ceasar says when they enhance people’s skills and let them know that there are other options in life, they will be able to reintegrate into society and live better. As a result, she says society will be less affected by criminal activities.” This Sentence Planning Programme will help to identify the risks a prisoner presents to the public; the need a prisoner has and in turn help in the development of a plan to reduce those risks and meet the need in a sequence and coordinated way to prepare the inmate for community reintegration.
The Programme has been fully implemented in the Cayman Islands and in Montserrat. It is in the implementation stages in Turks and Caicos, Bermuda and here in the BVI. | 
