Tartu Prison currently employs 160 staff, but if a plan to house Swedish inmates there comes to fruition, an additional 250 prison officers will be needed.

The rehearsal scenarios included a prison guard finding forbidden items in a cell, such as a mobile phone, cigarettes, or a can of beer; or having to administer medicine to an inmate.
It turns out the inmate is from a foreign country and can't understand the guard.
In one cell, a morning roll call was performed, in another, an inmate required resuscitation.
Participants had to resolve all these situations effectively.

Villiam Linder, escort unit head at Viru Prison in Jõhvi, told "Aktuaalne kaamera": "You couldn't say our daily work takes place on a military assault course, but in fact the tasks we've set up here are highly realistic. The fact that we work in teams and solve tasks in teams – that is our everyday work and situation."

Erik Jõesaar, escort unit head of Tallinn Prison, said: "In the bigger picture it went well, but a few things could still be performed a shade better. A bit of attentiveness was missing – one item on the shelf went unnoticed."

The professional skills competition included more intellectual tasks this year, such as how to communicate with non-native speakers or foreign prisoners like those expected from Sweden; probation officer Gerly Karjat noted that translating and interacting with foreign inmates were the most challenging tasks, reflecting the growing importance of preparing for this future shift.

Nearly one hundred prison officers laid off from Tartu Prison last year may now be rehired, as plans to house Swedish prisoners at the facility are moving forward and creating a staff shortage; head of the prison service, Rait Kuuse, expressed regret over the earlier layoffs, adding he hopes to bring many of the former employees back.

If the Estonia-Sweden prison rental agreement actually becomes reality, more effort will be put into language training for prison staff, Kuuse added.
Kuuse said basic training prepares officers for all inmates, but the new agreement would necessitate added language and cultural training.

Under a new agreement being negotiated between the two countries and subject to legislation passing a Riigikogu vote, Tartu Prison space is to be leased out to Sweden, to accommodate up to 600 inmates.

Estonia has three prisons: Tartu, Tallinn and Viru (in Jõhvi). The rationale behind the prison rental scheme is to make use of cell vacancies while bringing in revenues to state coffers from countries which have prison crowding issues.

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