PRISON Officers Association (POA) president Gerard Gordon has defended the integrity of prison officers against statements by anyone trying to suggest the reason why inmates were relocated from the Maximum Security Prison (MSP) in Arouca to military facilities in Chaguaramas during the state of emergency (SoE) was because security had been compromised at the prisons.

On July 18, Attorney General John Jeremie said government fully endorsed the calling of the SoE from midnight on July 17 to thwart what he said was a plot hatched by criminal elements operating inside the prison system, to threaten the lives of ordinary citizens, members of the justice system and law-enforcement officers.

CoP Allister Guevarro made similar comments earlier on July 18.