The Jamaican music space is mourning the death of another legend. Retired Senior Superintendent of Police Gladstone Wright, who founded the Rehabilitation of Offenders through Music Programme in 2004, has died.
SSP Wright, who had a decorated career in the Jamaican police department, is famous not just for his tenure in the Protective Services Division and Narcotics Division of the force but also for his advocacy of rehabilitation of inmates in the prison system through music.
After founding the Rehabilitation of Offenders through Music Programme, formerly Rehabilitation through Music, he went on to spearhead a few big productions in prison in the mid-2000s, including Jah Cure’s “Prison Walls,” which became a massive reggae hit that helped paved the way for the incarcerated reggae singer to go on to have a successful career in music following his release from prison in 2007 after serving time for a rape charge. The song, released in 2005, was co-written by Wright and Jah Cure.
SSP Wright was a lover of music and also a music producer who worked with a few local acts. After serving in his post for over four decades, SSP Gladstone Wright retired from his post in 2008, and the Rehabilitation through Music saw a decline. Nevertheless, the Correctional Service Department tried to revive the program over the years, but since then, it has not returned to the peak of the mid-2000s.
Over the past decade, they’re tried to get inmates like Vybz Kartel to be a part of the program, but he declined since he would also be required to admit guilt to his murder conviction, for which he is now appealing.
Jah Cure, whose real name is Siccaturie Alcock, found himself in more legal troubles again, this time in Europe. The reggae singer is currently serving a 6-year prison sentence in the Netherlands after being found guilty of attempted manslaughter last year. The charge stemmed from a 2021 arrest in Amsterdam after the singer stabbed promoter Nicardo ‘Papa’ Blake in a domestic over funds owed to him.
