Tower Street Adult Correctional Centre

Last updated

Tower Street Prison
(formerly The General Penitentiary)
Jamaica location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Tower Street Adult Correctional Centre
Tower Street Adult Correctional Centre
Interactive map of Tower Street Prison
(formerly The General Penitentiary)
LocationTower Street, Kingston, Jamaica
Coordinates 17°58′01″N76°46′51″W / 17.9668337°N 76.7808509°W / 17.9668337; -76.7808509
StatusOperational
Security classMaximum security
Capacity650
Population2000
Managed by Department of Correctional Services for the Ministry of National Security
DirectorKevin Wallen [1]

Tower Street Adult Correctional Centre is a prison in Jamaica.

Contents

History

In 1840, a statute was passed to establish a General Penitentiary in Jamaica. The preamble to the law stated that it was necessary "not only for the safe custody of convicted criminals, but to ensure the more important object of their restoration to society, in a state of reformation and improvement, by a uniform course of well regulated labour, and judicious instruction." [2] This followed a report in 1838 by J. W. Pringle into prison conditions in the British West Indies, wherein he had concluded "a proper penitentiary in Jamaica is indispensable towards carrying out any plan of prison reform." [3] The foundation stone was laid by the Earl of Elgin, the governor, in 1845, and was "so general a holiday we have rarely seen." [4] In 1847, the walls enclosing the penitentiary were completed, and work on the cells and hospital began. [5]

It was formerly the General Penitentiary, and was built to accommodate 650 male inmates [6] but has held over 1700 on occasions. [7] Construction of the current building began in 1845, shortly after the end of slavery. Previously, the Kingston House of Correction stood on the same site. The new penitentiary was designed according to the 'separate system' in which prisoners are held in isolation, although in practice sharing of the small cells has been common. [8]

It is operated by the Department of Correctional Services for the Ministry of National Security.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Archive for the 'Tower Street' Category". Prison Diaries. Retrieved 30 March 2019.
  2. ↑ The Laws of Jamaica Passed in the Fourth Year of the Reign of Queen Victoria. Spanish Town: Abraham Judah. 1841. pp. 233–239.
  3. ↑ "Report of Captain J. W. Pringle on Prisons in the West Indies: Jamaica, 1838". Second Report of the Surveyor-General of Prisons. London: HM Stationery Office. 1847. pp. 3–14.
  4. ↑ "Foreign". The Freemasons' Quarterly Review. 1845. p. 129.
  5. ↑ "Papers Relative to the Affairs of the Island of Jamaica". The Sessional Papers Printed by Order of the House of Lords or Presented by Royal Command in the Session 1849. Vol. 9. 1849. p. 90.
  6. ↑ Makeshift weapons increasing prison deaths Archived 2009-01-14 at the Wayback Machine , Tyrone Reid, Jamaica Gleaner, 2004-02-08.
  7. ↑ Comparison of daily averages* over a 10 year period (1997-2006) by institution and sex, Department Of Correctional Services, 2007.
  8. ↑ Paton, Diana (8 October 2004). No Bond but the Law: Punishment, Race, and Gender in Jamaican State Formation, 1780–1870. Duke University Press. ISBN   0822386143.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.