Prisoners were out but Supt. says they were supervised
As we reported yesterday, on Tuesday afternoon, residents of Central American Boulevard frantically called our newsroom claiming to have seen two known maximum security prisoners walking the streets in civilian clothing and without a prison guard in sight. Today News Five contacted Governor of Prisons Bernard Adolphus who confirmed that the convicts in question were in Belize City but had been assigned to a work gang on Faber’s Road. Adolphus says the matter is under investigation but so far the men have reported that they were wearing their Department of Corrections shirts and did not walk away from the work site. Until that matter is solved however, the fact that maximum-security felons were being allowed off the prison compound did send off a few alarm bells. To this Adolphus says that each prisoner chosen to work outside the prison does not pose a threat to the public and the work program is meant to get the prisoners into a “constructive mode” before their release. Adolphus says maximum-security prisoners with only a few years remaining on their sentence and who exhibit good behavior are transferred to a work building where they can be chosen to do jobs on the outside. As for the prisoners seen on the street on Tuesday, apparently they have approximately 2 more years to spend behind bars.