- 57 At Thessaloniki Prison, the staffing situation was no better with two to three prison officers being responsible for one floor accommodating some 200 prisoners. At Thiva Women’s Prison, the delegation was informed that a normal shift consisted of a chief guard, three deputy chiefs and a prison officer assigned to each wing. At the time of the visit, the delegation observed that for both A and B Wings there was only one prison officer (a trainee) on duty, located in the control room situated between the two wings, out of sight and hearing of either wing; she was responsible for overseeing up to 120 prisoners (83 on the day). Prison officers did not, in general, enter the wings and both staff and prisoners acknowledged that there was minimal interaction between the two groups. To sum up, such a state of understaffing is totally unacceptable and is manifestly not conducive to the effective management and control of complex institutions such as the prisons visited. 120. It is not surprising that with such low levels of staffing, prison officers have little control over what is occurring within the cell blocks, and when incidents arise they are not in a position to intervene until after the event; often they do not even know that an incident has taken place. Prisons are effectively being ceded to stronger groups of prisoners and the State is abdicating its duty of care in respect of many prisoners. The CPT calls upon the Greek authorities to carry out immediately a review of the current staffing levels in the prisons visited and, in the light of the review, make provision to recruit additional staff. In carrying out this review, regard should be had to the role and duties of prison staff as they relate to the purpose of sending people to prison. 121. The CPT’s delegation found little evidence of efforts to recruit staff from diverse backgrounds, despite the fact that nearly 50% of the prisoner population is composed of foreign nationals. At a minimum, foreign national liaison officers should be appointed in the larger prisons, who have an understanding of the culture and language of the main groups in the prison, and who can facilitate the process of adaptation to prison and preparation for the process of release, including release with a view to deportation. The CPT encourages the Greek authorities to develop a human resources policy which includes attracting prison staff from diverse backgrounds. 122. To obtain personnel of the right calibre, the authorities must be prepared to invest adequate resources into the process of recruitment and training.