Jails face explosion of violence due to shortage of ‘Tornado squad’ prison riot officers

Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. “This is yet another sign of the scale of the crisis in our prisons, and the failure by the government to take this crisis seriously.” In addition to Tornado squads, which comprise local officers who volunteer to be deployed to tackle dangerous situations across the prison estate, a separate specialist group – often described as the prison system’s SAS – was called out more than twice a day last year. Justice secretary Alex Chalk announced drastic measures this week to release prisoners up to 60 days early “Despite training more new Tornado officers than ever, retention rates are alarmingly low. This is of concern to prison governors, as the ability to swiftly restore order and control in our prisons is essential to maintaining prison capacity and the safety of staff, prisoners and the public.” Expressing “alarm but not surprise” at the drop in Tornado volunteers, the Prison Officers Association warned it could not recall a time where there was a shortage of interest in carrying out Tornado roles –and said the 1,592 officers available in November could well be an all-time low. There’s no real difference between rate of pay for Tornado duty and bed watch,” the union’s chief Steve Gillan told The Independent, adding: “They’ve taken them for granted, and now it’s come home to roost.” Labelling the shortage “a wake-up call for everyone” which “could have a knock-on effect” for staff and prisoner safety, Mr Gillan warned: “The last thing you want is not having enough trained personnel to deal with incidents throughout the service.” “Officers are nearly on their knees, morale is rock bottom,” he added.