The structure does not have the papers in order, the Region wants to transfer it from 2019. Baldenich’s trade unions point the finger at the Superintendent of prisons
BELLUNO. The protest of the penitentiary police of the Baldenich prison rises. After so many promises and a regional resolution of 2019 that accepted the requests of the staff on duty in Belluno, in fact, nothing has changed with respect to the plan for the transfer of the prisoners of the psychiatric section to a more suitable institution and the unions denounce the continuous repetition of episodes of violence to the detriment of prison officers, who are already in difficulty due to a shortage of staff.
The trade unions Cisl Fns, Fsa cnpp, Cgil Fp Pp, Sappe, Uspp and Osapp, which represent the agents of the Belluno Prison, therefore proclaimed the state of agitation of the Penitentiary Police personnel serving in the Baldenich prison, reserving in the near future to take protest actions to claim their rights.
There are two reasons for the protest. The first concerns, in fact, the failure to close the Articulation section for the Protection of Mental Health, provided for by the resolution of the Veneto regional council no.739 of 11 June 2019, which provided for the transfer of the psychiatric section to another location in the Veneto. (in Padua), both due to a strong structural deficiency and a serious lack of resources on the part of Ulss 1 Dolomiti. The trade unions point out that there is currently an important shortage of psychiatrists in the Belluno area and that a freelance psychiatrist works at the Belluno Prison.
The unions also denounce that: “The managerial incapacity of these patients involves numerous critical events which jeopardize the psychophysical safety of the staff of the Penitentiary Police, of all the figures working within the section and of the” patients in prison “Themselves. The latest unfortunate episode, which occurred a few weeks ago, resulted in the attack on a doctor of continuity of assistance, who had to resort to emergency room treatment ».
The second reason for the protest lies in the now chronic shortage of personnel: «Shortage that could be mitigated with the new recruitments activated at the national level, which, however, have been assigned to other offices. A strong psychophysical solicitation is reported to the detriment of the prison policemen on duty at the Belluno Prison, who undertake daily grueling shifts covering more service posts and an absolutely abnormal amount of overtime “.
In Baldenich prison there are about one hundred inmates for 81 prison officers. In the psychiatric section the maximum capacity is six people and to these are added the inmates of the transsexual and sexual offender sections, i.e. the perpetrators of sexual offenses (both protected categories that must remain isolated), the common section, the one in transit and that of the free seeds , each of which must remain separate from the others.
“Our greatest regret”, the trade union organizations underline, “is the underestimation of the problem by of the new Provveditore del Triveneto, who took office in Padua in March, who was able to feel the situation in Belluno on the occasion of the two visits made, when, however, he did not have the delicacy to meet the staff, much less the trade unions ” .
The closure of the psychiatric section, in fact, is up to the Superintendent, but the unions aim to make their voices heard also in the National Department.