By C1 Staff
TAIPEI — A report on the investigation into a hostage situation where six inmates took a prison warden and head guard prisoner reveals flaws that may have led to the event.
Focus Taiwan reports that the report calls for improvements in security at the Kaohsiung Prison and in regulating coverage by media outlets.
The report called attention to failures in maintaining security at the prison’s armory, the lack of surveillance systems that could fully capture what was happening and poor vigilance among supervisors.
Other shortcomings included inadequate manpower, the inability to prevent the media from using camera drones and the failure to establish a single channel for releasing press statements.
Officers at the prison failed to adequately frisk prisoners and conduct security checks, enabling inmates to hide items like steel bars and scissors on their persons.
Supervisors were also unable to detect that six inmates feigned illness in order to be examined by a doctor at the same time.
Kaohsiung Prison was not equipped to offer adequate counseling to its high population of violent and major crime offenders, according to the Agency of Corrections.
The agency also noted that chronic understaffing led to requiring a single officer to escort multiple inmates during visitation hours or for medical examinations.