It is rare for the entire staff of any institution to strike in a bid to force the removal of its chief executive. But that is what has happened in the case of John Prescod and the Prison Service.

Government, which appointed Mr. Prescod, maintains he is the best man for the job and is standing by him. That is not surprising, given the short time he has been in the position.

Still, that same speed with which the strike has taken place begs the question of whether Mr. Prescod really was the best possible appointment to make. His tenure in Jamaica was marked by several strikes over his management style and policies, and it has not taken long for Bermuda's prison officers to become just as frustrated.

Not all the blame can be put at Mr. Prescod's door. He has been given the task of cutting recidivism by the Government. It would seem that at least some of the policies he is pursuing to accomplish this are angering the officers. But this is, ultimately, the policy of the Government and if the officers are unhappy, they should be directing their concerns there.

At the same time, a chief executive who fails to first gain the support of the people who must implement the policy before it goes into effect cannot be said to be doing a very good job.

And in apparently ignoring the policy recommendations of the prisons board of inquiry, Mr. Prescod seems to be burning his own bridges. Those recommendations were adopted by the Government and if Mr. Prescod thinks they are as worthless as the prison officers believe he does, then he is on shaky ground.

The problem now is to determine how to get out of this impasse. Assuming that Government plans to stand by Mr. Prescod through his contract, the only way to accomplish this is by establishing a succession plan that would identify the Bermudian officers with the highest potential for becoming Commissioner of Prisons.

The Police went through this process when Colin Coxall and later Jean-Jacques LeMay were Commissioners and that process should provide the template for the level of training and experience gathering that future Bermudian Commissioners require.

Beyond that, the community has to decide what form of corrections facilities it should have. If it wants a system in which offenders are locked up for long periods of time in the name of protecting the public, that's fine. If the community wants a system on which inmates are given the chance to be rehabilitated so that they may become useful members of society and not repeat offenders, then that's fine too.

The problem now is that the Government has said, to general support it wants the latter. But as soon it attempts to make that happen, the public and prison officers get worried.

That should not satisfy anyone. But Mr. Prescod's presence and approach do not seem to be helping the situation.