US Embassy Donates Riot Gear to Prison Service

THE US Em­bassy has donated coun­ter­feit cur­ren­cy de­tec­tion ma­chines, ri­ot gear kits and com­put­er hard­ware to the Trinidad and To­ba­go Prison Ser­vice.

This to help pro­vide a safe, se­cure, and hu­mane cor­rec­tion­al en­vi­ron­ment, a statement from the US Embassy noted.

It said it was pleased to play a role in en­hanc­ing the abil­i­ty of the prison ser­vice to not only re­spond to emer­gen­cies but al­so to track the crim­i­nal net­works that at­tempt to con­tin­ue their ac­tiv­i­ties from be­hind prison walls.

The han­dover from Am­bas­sador Joseph Mon­del­lo to Pris­ons Com­mis­sion­er Ger­ard Wil­son took place at the Trinidad and To­ba­go Prison Ser­vice’s Ad­min­is­tra­tive Of­fices in Port-of-Spain.

The ri­ot gear kits were pro­vid­ed to the Prison Ser­vice Emer­gency Re­sponse Unit, whose of­fi­cers al­so re­cent­ly at­tend­ed a US De­part­ment of State-spon­sored “Mock Prison Ri­ot” train­ing ex­er­cise in West Vir­ginia, the release pointed out.

The com­put­er hard­ware will host soft­ware that will al­low the Prison Ser­vice to bet­ter iden­ti­fy and track the crim­i­nal net­works ac­tive in the pris­ons, the embassy noted.

Meanwhile, the Minister of National Security Stuart Young received a courtesy call on Friday from United States Embassy Deputy Chief of Mission David Richelsoph, at the Ministry of National Security’s Head Office on Abercromby Street, Port-of-Spain.

Minister of National Security Stuart Young, right, meets United States Embassy Deputy Chief of Mission David Richelsoph. Photo: Ministry of National Security. 

A release from the Ministry of National Security stated that the visit was to introduce Richelsoph who assumed duties at the US Embassy in Port-of-Spain in July.

It stated that Young welcomed Richelsoph to Trinidad and Tobago and underscored his commitment to the furtherance of bilateral security cooperation with the United States of America.

The release stated, “Deputy Chief of Mission Richelsoph expressed his gratitude for the warm welcome as well as the opportunity to advance the working relationship with Trinidad and Tobago on current and future security initiatives.”

According to the release, also present at the meeting were United States Embassy Political and Economic Chief Joseph FitzGerald and Ministry of National Security Deputy Director of International Affairs Retired Major Richard Lynch.