KConnor56
03-04-2003, 07:07 AM
More than 100 prisoners stage riot, light fires at Montreal Detention Centre
ARPON BASU
Canadian Press
Saturday, January 25, 2003
MONTREAL (CP) - More than 18 hours after it began, officials at the Montreal
Detention Centre were able to confirm Saturday that all the prisoners involved
in an overnight riot were back in their cells.
More than 100 corrections officers and provincial police were needed to
control the situation after 131 prisoners refused to enter their cells and set
mattresses on fire at about 10:30 Friday night. It wasn't before 5 a.m.
Saturday that corrections officers were able to enter the A-wing where the
riot took place.
Quebec Public Security Minister Serge Menard said it would have been unsafe to
enter before then.
"They were (burning) things that created a lot of smoke, so it was absolutely
impossible to see inside and very dangerous to intervene," Menard said
Saturday afternoon outside the gates of the provincial facility.
However, there were still three prisoners missing as of Saturday morning and
it was only at around 4:45 Saturday afternoon that Quebec provincial police
confirmed all the inmates were in the prison, which is surrounded by
residential neighbourhoods.
"Sometimes, prisoners hide so they aren't counted, that may have happened
here," provincial police spokesman Gerard Carrier said.
The incident seemed to have been sparked by an altercation between a few
prisoners Friday evening that resulted in one prisoner being sent to hospital
with a minor head wound. He was released shortly after midnight.
About 10 minutes after the fight, Menard said prisoners began throwing things
such as billiard balls. When the prisoners were told to return to their cells
at the normal time of 10:30 p.m., they refused and instead began lighting
mattresses on fire.
"The prisoners barricaded themselves in, they put several objects in front of
the gates to prevent corrections officers from entering, and it also prevented
firefighters from getting to the fires," Menard explained. "As some fires were
being put out, others were being lit."
Television cameras recorded flames spewing out of the building late Friday
night.
One corrections officer suffered a minor hand injury. There were no further
injuries among prisoners following the original skirmish.
"It was a dangerous situation, and we have no major injuries," Menard said,
lauding the professionalism of corrections officers and provincial police.
The Montreal Detention Centre, formerly known as Bordeaux Jail, is an old
building and that may have complicated the situation, Menard said.
"It was built in 1912, and that wing specifically was supposed to be repaired
and redone next September," Menard said.
He said the water pipes in that wing are exposed and that prisoners began
ripping them off the walls and using them to destroy the building. Pipes are
hidden inside walls in modern prisons, Menard said.
Also, the sinks and toilets in the building are ceramic while they are made of
metal in modern prisons.
Damage to the building was estimated by Menard to be in the "tens of
thousands" of dollars.
The jail has also been criticized for over-crowding, and Menard acknowledged
it is a problem at the antiquated facility. He insisted, however, that was not
the case in the A-wing.
"The wing is not over-populated," he said.
The A-wing houses convicts awaiting sentencing. The jail's warden, Nicole
Quesnel, said it is normal for people in that situation to be a little
stressed.
"Surely, people awaiting sentencing are more tense than a regular prisoner,"
she said.
Provincial police Sgt. Nils Major said charges are likely to be laid,
including participating in a riot, arson, conspiracy and mischief.
All Good Things,
Susan
ARPON BASU
Canadian Press
Saturday, January 25, 2003
MONTREAL (CP) - More than 18 hours after it began, officials at the Montreal
Detention Centre were able to confirm Saturday that all the prisoners involved
in an overnight riot were back in their cells.
More than 100 corrections officers and provincial police were needed to
control the situation after 131 prisoners refused to enter their cells and set
mattresses on fire at about 10:30 Friday night. It wasn't before 5 a.m.
Saturday that corrections officers were able to enter the A-wing where the
riot took place.
Quebec Public Security Minister Serge Menard said it would have been unsafe to
enter before then.
"They were (burning) things that created a lot of smoke, so it was absolutely
impossible to see inside and very dangerous to intervene," Menard said
Saturday afternoon outside the gates of the provincial facility.
However, there were still three prisoners missing as of Saturday morning and
it was only at around 4:45 Saturday afternoon that Quebec provincial police
confirmed all the inmates were in the prison, which is surrounded by
residential neighbourhoods.
"Sometimes, prisoners hide so they aren't counted, that may have happened
here," provincial police spokesman Gerard Carrier said.
The incident seemed to have been sparked by an altercation between a few
prisoners Friday evening that resulted in one prisoner being sent to hospital
with a minor head wound. He was released shortly after midnight.
About 10 minutes after the fight, Menard said prisoners began throwing things
such as billiard balls. When the prisoners were told to return to their cells
at the normal time of 10:30 p.m., they refused and instead began lighting
mattresses on fire.
"The prisoners barricaded themselves in, they put several objects in front of
the gates to prevent corrections officers from entering, and it also prevented
firefighters from getting to the fires," Menard explained. "As some fires were
being put out, others were being lit."
Television cameras recorded flames spewing out of the building late Friday
night.
One corrections officer suffered a minor hand injury. There were no further
injuries among prisoners following the original skirmish.
"It was a dangerous situation, and we have no major injuries," Menard said,
lauding the professionalism of corrections officers and provincial police.
The Montreal Detention Centre, formerly known as Bordeaux Jail, is an old
building and that may have complicated the situation, Menard said.
"It was built in 1912, and that wing specifically was supposed to be repaired
and redone next September," Menard said.
He said the water pipes in that wing are exposed and that prisoners began
ripping them off the walls and using them to destroy the building. Pipes are
hidden inside walls in modern prisons, Menard said.
Also, the sinks and toilets in the building are ceramic while they are made of
metal in modern prisons.
Damage to the building was estimated by Menard to be in the "tens of
thousands" of dollars.
The jail has also been criticized for over-crowding, and Menard acknowledged
it is a problem at the antiquated facility. He insisted, however, that was not
the case in the A-wing.
"The wing is not over-populated," he said.
The A-wing houses convicts awaiting sentencing. The jail's warden, Nicole
Quesnel, said it is normal for people in that situation to be a little
stressed.
"Surely, people awaiting sentencing are more tense than a regular prisoner,"
she said.
Provincial police Sgt. Nils Major said charges are likely to be laid,
including participating in a riot, arson, conspiracy and mischief.
All Good Things,
Susan