Staff at youth prison Den Hey-Acker in Breda did not sufficiently realize how dangerous two prisoners were who were involved in a fatal stabbing and hostage-taking at the beginning of last year. This is the conclusion of the Justice and Security Inspectorate, the Health Care and Youth Inspectorate, the Dutch Labor Inspectorate and the Education Inspectorate.
The authorities investigated, among other things, a hostage-taking of two employees of the juvenile detention center by a 21-year-old prisoner. Although the boy was on unaccompanied leave, he had been absent from the place where he should have been working for some time without permission. When he reported there, he forced the two employees to drive to Belgium at gunpoint. After they were released, the prisoner was shot dead by the Belgian police. This happened on January 13 last year.
The investigators also looked into the fatal stabbing three months later in Den Hey-Acker itself. A fellow prisoner, Louc, aged 19, was killed. Gerard S. stabbed him to death with a knife, which he needed for cooking. The perpetrator was known to be suddenly very violent. Earlier this year, 19-year-old S. was sentenced to eight years in prison and TBS by the court in Breda.
Not alert and inexperienced
According to the researchers, Den Hey-Acker staff formally acted in accordance with the rules in both cases. But they also note that the employees did not respond alertly enough and that a number of employees were inexperienced. Information about, for example, the prisoner who had taken two guards hostage was also not shared properly. In addition, there was a high workload during the period when both the hostage-taking and the stabbing took place. This was due to a shortage of personnel.
The investigation reports state that the management of the prison and an associated school have already initiated improvements. For example, there is more staff, which has reduced absenteeism due to illness.
‘Sufficiently educated and trained’
But the researchers say more is needed. Den Hey-Acker and the school must immediately draw up an inventory and evaluation of the risks of their organization. This is required by law, but apparently it hasn’t happened yet. Furthermore, both institutions must ensure that all employees are sufficiently educated and trained in assessing safety risks. They also need to communicate better with each other.
Finally, the management of the prison is advised to think about the possibility of using means of control such as video calls and GPS tracking during unaccompanied leave. This maintains a view of the whereabouts of prisoners. The consequences of the two incidents for the leadership of Den Hey-Acker are not discussed in the two investigation reports.
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