Legal requirement

I REFER to "Who should be accountable" by Bill Somerville (Letters, September 13).

The legal responsibility of a prison officer is defined by the provisions of the Correctional Services Act.

Not only is it a prison officer's responsibility to prevent an escape, an officer's responsibility is to detect and seize illegal drugs and other such contraband from enntering the prison system.

If a prison officer is taking steps to rehabilitate and reintegrate offenders then their line of thought is not concentrated on their legal responsibilities. This, therefore, results in a serious breakdown of prison security.

To rehabilitate a prisoner is a matter for the do-gooders.

A.G. Piper
Winnellie

Newshawk: http://www.napnt.org
Pubdate: Fri, 16 September 2005
Source: Northern Territory News (Australia)
Author: A.G. Piper (letter to the editor)
Copyright: 2005 Northern Territory News
Contact: ntnmail@ntn.newsltd.com.au
Website: http://ntnews.news.com.au/
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