Monitor monitor under observation Mr. President, will you help with this modernization?

The issue of installing additional cameras was analyzed by the Main Board of the NSZZ Officers and Employees of Prisons, which in a letter addressed to General Jacek Kitliński, Director General of the Prison Service, emphasizes that he opposes such practices. He also calls for the cameras to be removed, e.g. due to the fact that conducting such monitoring at the place where the monitor is on duty has not been regulated either in the pragmatics of service or in the general labor law. Trade unions emphasize that the decision to monitor should be assessed through the prism of respecting the dignity and other personal rights of the employee and based on the provisions of the GDPR. "It should be pointed out that the provisions regarding monitoring were reflected in the Act - the Executive Penal Code (Article 73a), but only in the context of monitoring the behavior of inmates, not officers or employees of the Prison Service" - the unions emphasize in the letter. They add that the installation of cameras causes a sense of "notorious psychological repression" in the uniformed officer, who is already aware of the sense of official and criminal responsibility for the self-aggressive behavior of the inmates. This is also to translate into lowering the level of concentration on the indicated task and intensifying stress, as well as having a negative impact on the perception process.

The decision to install cameras and direct them at the officers appointed to serve at the monitoring post was influenced, as NSZZ FiPW writes, by "recent events in some penitentiary units of the Prison Service". As InfoSecurity24.pl found out, it is about suicides of inmates serving a sentence for monitored purposes. Kamil Bachanowicz, vice-chairman of NSZZ FiPW, informed the editors that they intensified in the short term, precisely from the beginning of this year.

Another problem is the limit on the number of images from cameras placed in cells that can be simultaneously observed by one officer at the monitoring station in a penitentiary or remand centre. As the trade unionists from NSZZ FiPW remind, it is currently undetermined. That is why the number of cameras from which an officer can currently observe ranges from several to several dozen. "There are cases that, in addition to observing the behavior of inmates in monitored cells and places that are to be observed in the case of inmates requiring monitoring, officers observe other places of the unit, i.e. administration area, uniform warehouse, hospital, and are exploited with additional duties, e.g. operating a radio station base, service, alarm control panel, fax, computer, answering phones, opening passages, gates, entrances to the pavilion, hospital building, traffic control. The trade unions emphasize here that it is necessary to develop and implement acts regulating the limit on the number of images and the requirements for equipment.

Monitor under observation Mr. President, will you help You with this upgrade?

Read also: Vacancies and overtime, or uniformed life behind bars

According to the Supreme Audit Office, and more precisely its findings published in October 2020, from the point of view of security, monitoring of places where prisoners are kept is one of the most serious problems of the Prison Service. It is necessary, among others, replacement of analog cameras with IP cameras, because they are worn out and do not allow for proper observation. What is important for the officers, "work in such a position (monitor - editor's note) is tiring and requires a lot of concentration and vigilance, because inmates often skilfully mask a suicide attempt". NIK also pointed out that one uniformed officer cannot observe too many images from the cells, especially in conjunction with the observation of communication routes or the external area of ​​​​the unit, but the imposition of such limits was not undertaken by either the Ministry of Justice or the formation itself, although such an attempt was made still in 2018. At that time, the Director General of the PS issued an instruction according to which the monitor station could include a maximum of 21 camera images from residential cells, with a maximum of seven residential cells per monitor. The problem, however, was the cost of this solution, which exceeded the financial capabilities of the PS, and no additional funds were requested from the Ministry of Justice. "Therefore, the instruction was repealed even before it came into force" - informed NIK. The Chamber emphasized that among the inspected units, only the Remand Prison in Katowice met this requirement, and in the Prison in Goleniów, the monitor watched the image from 38 cameras installed in 19 cells...

Trade unions also point out that officers without experience and without appropriate training are often to be appointed to the monitor position.

The solution here, according to the proposal contained in the letter to the head of the formation, is to be systemic training. The officers appointed to these positions, they add, should have a valid medical certificate stating that there are no contraindications to work as a monitor in the working conditions described in the referral for a medical examination. Moreover, the problem is also the fact that monitors in some units control the behavior of inmates and record these controls in the register and keep records of issuing special keys. As NSZZ FiPW emphasizes, such practices are contrary to the applicable regulations.