Teno wants more cops • Governor summons DPS commissioner, prison officials

Gov. Pedro P. Tenorio yesterday sought a full report on the ongoing investigation being conducted by the Department of Public Safety into the Easter Sunday jailbreak and the related protest staged by inmates at the Susupe prison.

At the same time, he pledged to hire more police officers to beef up the current DPS force in a move to ease worries in the community on such incidents which have alarmed island residents.

Mr. Tenorio met with Public Safety Commissioner Charles W. Ingram and other police officials to discuss ways on how to deal with the problems in the Division of Corrections following the escape of three convicts last Sunday.

Luis Deleon Guerrero Camacho was immediately apprehended by police after bolting out of the main correctional facility, while Jesse James B. Camacho and Kurt M. Taisacan walked in back to the prison and surrendered Tuesday night.

Likewise, a group of prisoners the other night set a fire in the main facility to protest the temporary suspension of their privileges as a result of the jailbreak.

Mr. Tenorio said he has requested the department to provide him a report of its probe on these two incidents, noting that he found as impossible the initial findings disclosed so far by police officials.

“I asked the Commissioner to provide me full details of the investigation,” he told reporters in an interview after his meeting with DPS.

“They said that [the escapees] broke the lock. I’m apprehensive [to believe] why they were able to break the lock when there is no means [to do it],” asked the governor. “How can they break the lock by just pulling it down? I’m very much concerned.”

He stressed, however, that there is no cause for the public to panic as he assured the residents that his administration is monitoring “closely” the situation and that the DPS has vowed to implement changes to protect the community.

“The Commissioner has come up with his recommendations as to what needs to be done to alleviate this problem,” said Mr. Tenorio.

More cops

In the past two years when several jailbreaks occurred and a prison siege damaged the facility in March 1999, the government hired 10 additional correctional officers to augment its staff. “I assume that they [know] what they are supposed to do because we provided them additional employees,” he said.

Because of the recent incident, the government will seek funding to finance training of more cops. Mr. Tenorio said the CNMI will solicit federal grants to help the island meet its funding requirement.

The Commonwealth expects to conduct a new cycle of training for 45 people who will be deployed to the three main islands under the Community Oriented Policing Services or COPS Universal Hiring grant.

The first cycle increased the number of forces on Saipan by 25 and 10 each for Rota and Tinian. The governor has requested a budget of more than $350,000 from the Legislature to match the federal assistance.

“Perhaps that will alleviate shortage of manpower. The administration is trying its best,” he explained. “We can’t compromise the safety of the community.”

Rep. Heinz S. Hofschneider, chair of the governor’s Prison Task Force, earlier has reiterated the gains made by the panel in expediting facility upgrade and improvement of conditions being carried out in Susupe.

He also expressed hope that the ongoing management training of prison officials as well as the overhaul of the prison procedures would help prevent the jailbreak and other incidents from happening.

The efforts are part of the consent decree reached with the U.S. Department of Justice which considered the substandard jail condition here a violation of human rights of the prisoners.