The decision to bring in a consultant to review Bermuda’s corrections system is the right one.The level of unhappiness among prison officers, and their stated concerns about their own safety, means it makes sense to have someone from outside the system take a look at it.This is also necessary because the Prison Officers Association (POA), and Commissioner Edward Lamb, appear to be at an impasse, with POA saying Lt Col Lamb and the Government are not listening to them and Lt Col Lamb accusing the POA of exaggerating its fears. In that context, it is wise for a neutral party with wide experience to take a look.Bermuda has always had a schizophrenic attitude towards crime and punishment, veering between wanting rehabilitation to demanding punishment.And this approach is further hampered by the surge in crime in recent years, which means that inmates are often released after relatively short periods of time for what is purported to be good behaviour, but turns out to be the wish to avoid overcrowding.If Bermuda was serious about rehabilitation, it would ensure that Westgate and the Prison Farm had fully funded educational and psychological rehabilitation programmes which would reduce repeat offending.And if Bermuda simply wished to punish, it would put offenders into prison for long periods and leave them there.Instead, Bermuda tries to have the best of both worlds and ends up satisfying no one.In reaction to surges in crime, parliament enacts longer sentences for gun crime and the like, fully aware that many of the offenders will be released having served just one-third of the time ordered.Bermuda also plays lip service to rehabilitation, and has some good programmes. But there are not enough of these, and it may also be, ironically, that some inmates are not in prison long enough, to benefit.Finally, complaints by the POA about the current generation of criminals also need to be taken seriously. It is human nature to believe that each new generation is worse than its predecessors. But Bermuda has, in the last three or so years, experienced a wave of gang-fuelled violent crime that is unprecedented. It is to the credit of the police and prosecutors that many of the offenders have been convicted and jailed. But if the crimes they have committed are unprecedented, then they may well be a different kind of inmate as well, and how they are managed may have to be different.Still, as Yogi Berra said, there’s a feeling of “déjà vu all over again” with the prisons. The last 20 years have seen a history of unhappiness on the part of the POA, a revolving door of Commissioners and Public Safety Ministers, and a series of inquiries and reports. These often raise the same issues, notably the failure of the service to prepare officers for senior roles.In the end, no one can be blamed for the problems the prison service faces. But it is critical that a better way forward be found, or the prisons will still be experiencing the same problems in four or five years.