86% of Parolees Complete Supervision Without Reoffending, Malcolm says

Approximately 86 percent of people under probation or parole supervision in the Turks and Caicos Islands successfully complete their supervision without reoffending, Minister responsible for Public Safety Hon. Shaun Malcolm has said.

Malcolm disclosed the figure while addressing the Caribbean Association of Probation and Parole (CAPP) Conference at The Ritz-Carlton on September 2.

The conference, held from September 2 to 5, 2026, brought together probation, parole and rehabilitation professionals from across the region to exchange knowledge and strengthen approaches to community supervision, rehabilitation and reintegration.

“Today, we have some 86 percent of our clients successfully completing supervision without reoffending,” Malcolm said.

The minister said the result demonstrated how structured supervision and rehabilitation could redirect lives, prevent crime and make communities safer.

“Behind that figure are real people, real families and real communities,” Malcolm said. “It demonstrates what can happen when people are held accountable while also being given the structured interventions and opportunities necessary to change.”

He argued that rehabilitation should not be viewed as being in conflict with punishment or accountability.

“Rehabilitation is public safety,” Malcolm said. “There is sometimes a tendency to place punishment and rehabilitation on opposite sides of the criminal justice debate. I do not accept that distinction.”

He stressed that accountability, consequences for offenders, the needs of victims and the protection of communities must remain central to the criminal justice system. Effective rehabilitation, he said, requires people to confront their behaviour, understand the consequences of their actions and address the factors that contributed to their offences.

According to Malcolm, policymakers should consider not only whether a person has been punished but also whether that person is less likely to commit another offence.

“Every individual who successfully completes supervision and does not reoffend represents a life redirected, a potential crime prevented and a community made safer,” he said. “That is not being soft on crime. That is reducing crime.”

The minister said probation and parole officers play a critical role by managing risk, preventing further victimisation and contributing directly to safer communities.

He called for an “end-to-end” approach to public safety, connecting prevention and early intervention with policing, prosecution, sentencing, corrections, probation, parole, rehabilitation and reintegration.

Malcolm placed particular emphasis on intervening early in the lives of vulnerable young people.

“We should not wait until young persons become deeply involved in the criminal justice system before we act,” he said.

Noting that most people who enter the criminal justice system will eventually return to their communities, Malcolm said authorities must consider the condition in which they return.

“Will they return with the same behaviours, the same attitudes, the same addictions and the same circumstances that contributed to their offending?” he asked. “Or will we use the period during which they are under our supervision to create a genuine opportunity for change?”

Structured probation and rehabilitation services were introduced in the Turks and Caicos Islands in 2019, making the territory’s system relatively young compared with those of several other countries represented at the conference.

Since then, the government has strengthened probation services and introduced risk-assessment tools, structured rehabilitation programmes, an online case-management system and electronic monitoring. It has also expanded juvenile prevention and intervention initiatives.

While acknowledging that the territory’s rehabilitation system was still developing, Malcolm said its early results supported greater investment in community corrections.

He challenged governments across the region to ensure that spending on probation, parole and rehabilitation reflects their potential to reduce crime.

“We rightfully invest significant resources in policing, border security, courts and correctional institutions, but community corrections must also command serious policy attention,” he said.

Malcolm added that probation and parole departments require trained professionals, modern technology, evidence-based assessment tools and programmes capable of addressing the underlying factors that drive offending.