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<p>Our hard-working officers play a crucial role in keeping prisons safe and transforming
offenders’ lives, and ultimately make sure the public is protected.</p><p> </p><p>We
recognise the need to recruit and retain staff to keep our prisons secure. We have
invested significantly in increase staff numbers, recruiting an additional 4,366 (full
time equivalent) prison officers between October 2016 and June 2019, surpassing our
original target of 2,500. We will continue to recruit officers to ensure prisons are
safe and decent.</p><p> </p><p>We’re giving staff the tools they need to do the job
safely – rolling out PAVA incapacitant spray, and investing £100m to bolster security,
in addition to £70 million announced previously, to fund tough airport-style security
that will clamp down on the illicit items which fuel violence and hinder rehabilitation.</p>
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