Prison officers who smuggle drugs and mobile phones into prisons will be among those targeted by a specialist taskforce set up to tackle staff corruption in jails.
The Counter Corruption Unit, unveiled on Saturday by the justice secretary, David Gauke, will pursue staff suspected of corrupt activity in prison and probation services across England and Wales.
On Monday, the Guardian revealed more than 2,500 prison staff had been subject to disciplinary action in the last five years, including for relationships with inmates, assaulting prisoners and racism. The most common reason for disciplinary action was breach of security, which can include bringing drugs and mobile phones into prisons, with 960 workers subject to this charge.
Unveiling the new unit, Gauke said: “Our prison staff are overwhelmingly dedicated and honest and do their best to instil safety and order in our jails.
“We have seen from recent criminal prosecutions, however, that a small minority continue to engage in corrupt behaviour in our prisons – damaging both the integrity of the system and their profession.
“We’re closing the net on these individuals and this unit underlines our determination to stamp out criminality in prison in all its forms, while giving offenders the chance to rehabilitate and ultimately keeping the public safer.”
Working with law enforcement agencies, the unit aims to bring more prosecutions against those causing harm behind bars. The police will be working with the prison service as corruption can extend beyond the prison walls – sometimes involving criminal kingpins orchestrating activity from their cells.
The unit has 29 specialist staff split into a national team and five regional teams. Within these teams are expert intelligence analysts who will examine threats to the organisation.
The unit’s strategy has four pillars that mirror the Home Office’s counter-terrorism approach: protect, prevent, pursue and prepare. Last year, the MoJ advertised for a head of the unit.
A total of 2,666 prison staff in England and Wales were subject to disciplinary action between mid-2013 and mid-2018, according to data released by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) under the Freedom of Information Act.
Other charges included assault or unnecessary use of force against prisoners, for which 204 staff were disciplined, inappropriate relationships with a prisoner (64), racial harassment (19) and trafficking (28). There was also action over abusive language, sexual harassment and being unfit for work due to drink or drugs.
The data released to the Guardian shows the prison service launched 6,597 investigations into misconduct between mid-2013 and mid-2018, including 2,270 into breaches of security, 718 into assault or unnecessary use of force against a prisoner and 174 into inappropriate relationships with prisoners.
A total of 567 officers were sacked in the same period, including 84 for breach of security, 68 for assault or unnecessary use of force against a prisoner and 39 for an inappropriate relationship with a prisoner.
Last week, in the most recent case of a former prison officer being jailed, Emily Watson was sentenced to 12 months in prison after she pleaded guilty to misconduct in a public office for having sex with John McGee, an inmate serving an eight-year term for killing a charity worker in a hit-and-run crash.
This has come against a backdrop of rising prison officer numbers, with more than 4,700 additional officers recruited since October 2016 and staffing levels at their highest since 2012.
