- 29 5. Prison staff 63. The CPT has stressed in the past that an inadequate staff/prisoner ratio not only renders the provision of an acceptable regime well-nigh impossible, but also generates an insecure environment for both staff and prisoners. In addition to creating a potentially dangerous situation for vulnerable prisoners, it also poses dangers for staff, whose position can be compromised by their inability to exert proper control over - and develop a constructive dialogue with - prisoners. The chronic understaffing found in all the prisons visited in 2011 represents a further deterioration in the situation observed in 2009, let alone that of 2005. It concerns not only prison officers but also other categories of staff such as social workers. 64. A brief survey of the situation of staff with direct supervisory responsibilities in the prisons visited illustrates the problem clearly. At Amfissa Prison, the situation remains the same as that observed in September 2009 with five prison officers on duty during the day and two at night. No prison officers were present in the main part of the prison where more than 200 prisoners were accommodated, milling around on the stairs and in the courtyards. Prison officers had no idea what was going on in the dormitories or communal areas and appeared only to enter the accommodation areas to count the prisoners. At Domokos Prison, there were 22 officers on duty every shift for a prison population of over 600; more specifically, one prison officer was assigned to each wing of 60 prisoners, and was located in a control office outside the wing from which he could electronically open and close the cell and unit doors. Contact with prisoners was minimal. At Korydallos Men’s Prison, the situation was even more dire than that observed in September 2009; for example, one of the three “prison officers” responsible for a wing of some 400 prisoners was in fact an inmate. Prison officers remained at the gate and did not actually enter the wings except when additional staff arrived to oversee the midday head count. At Thiva Women’s Prison, the staffing situation had also deteriorated, with the complement now 13 fewer than in 2009. In general, there was only one prison officer on duty in the control room overseeing two wings (i.e. up to 120 prisoners). Such low staffing numbers meant there was minimal interaction between prisoners and staff. To sum up, such a state of understaffing is totally unacceptable and is manifestly not conducive to the effective management and control of a prison.