toe
08-23-2002, 09:37 AM
Saskatoon
A barbecue held at Saskatoon's Regional Psychiatric Centre where some potentially violent inmates ate filet mignon, climbed trees and doffed their clothes will be fully investigated, Corrections Canada officials said Thursday.
The review was initiated after several pictures taken at the Aug. 2 event were leaked to the media. The photos apparently show seven inmates from the aggressive behaviour control unit cooking steak and climbing trees. Another picture shows an inmate standing naked in a makeshift hot tub.
Glen Beatty, the centre's acting director, said barbecues are not unusual in the unit, but the inmates should have been more closely supervised.
"There's a lot of things that went wrong here," Mr. Beatty said. "Clearly this kind of activity is not condoned, nor should it be, in any facility operated by the Correctional Service of Canada."
No staff are visible in the photos, although the area is surrounded by windows.
Inmates in the aggressive behaviour control program have a history of violence, Mr. Beatty said. Many of them are sent to the facility because they've been involved in serious violence inside the federal prison system.
It is not the first time this year inmates at facilities across the country appear to have been indulged.
Inmates at the Saskatchewan Penitentiary at Prince Albert, Sask., viewed a pornographic video last New Year's Eve over the prison's closed-circuit broadcast system. They were also provided with 600 mini pizzas. The cost was covered out of their food allowances. The video was provided to a manager by an inmate.
Last spring, union leaders in Ontario accused managers at some jails of giving prisoners pornography, pizza and Swiss Chalet dinners to placate them during a public service strike. The province denied the suggestions.
In a slightly different twist, justice officials in Manitoba recently acknowledged prisoners at Rockwood Institution near Winnipeg were gorging on lobster thanks to an inmate who was smuggling in seafood, along with liquor and narcotics.
In Saskatoon, the men would have required permission to hold the barbecue and would have needed help from staff to purchase the groceries with money from the inmates. They would also have needed permission from unit staff to take the pictures, and a staff member would have had to get them developed.
The finished film never made it back to the inmates, Mr. Beatty said.
"I want, and I have asked for, an investigation to start immediately to determine how this event was approved, and the supervision that was provided [for] this event was obviously inadequate."
Mr. Beatty said he was "very offended" by the photos and disappointed in the staff. From now on, any inmate barbecue will require his personal approval, he said.
"I do not want this to occur again."
Martin Doell, president of the Union of Canadian Correctional Officers local at the facility, said managers have been warned by corrections officers about problems with the aggressive inmates unit.
"Everything that's allowed down there is not allowed in the rest of the prison," he said.
Mr. Doell said correctional officers do not have the authority to approve activities such as the party, and were not involved in helping organize it.
"We're disappointed that this was okayed, and we're not for this type of thing, and we're somewhat embarrassed by it."
Several of the inmates were angry the photos were leaked to the media and said they shouldn't be blamed for what happened. The investigation is expected to take two to three weeks.
A barbecue held at Saskatoon's Regional Psychiatric Centre where some potentially violent inmates ate filet mignon, climbed trees and doffed their clothes will be fully investigated, Corrections Canada officials said Thursday.
The review was initiated after several pictures taken at the Aug. 2 event were leaked to the media. The photos apparently show seven inmates from the aggressive behaviour control unit cooking steak and climbing trees. Another picture shows an inmate standing naked in a makeshift hot tub.
Glen Beatty, the centre's acting director, said barbecues are not unusual in the unit, but the inmates should have been more closely supervised.
"There's a lot of things that went wrong here," Mr. Beatty said. "Clearly this kind of activity is not condoned, nor should it be, in any facility operated by the Correctional Service of Canada."
No staff are visible in the photos, although the area is surrounded by windows.
Inmates in the aggressive behaviour control program have a history of violence, Mr. Beatty said. Many of them are sent to the facility because they've been involved in serious violence inside the federal prison system.
It is not the first time this year inmates at facilities across the country appear to have been indulged.
Inmates at the Saskatchewan Penitentiary at Prince Albert, Sask., viewed a pornographic video last New Year's Eve over the prison's closed-circuit broadcast system. They were also provided with 600 mini pizzas. The cost was covered out of their food allowances. The video was provided to a manager by an inmate.
Last spring, union leaders in Ontario accused managers at some jails of giving prisoners pornography, pizza and Swiss Chalet dinners to placate them during a public service strike. The province denied the suggestions.
In a slightly different twist, justice officials in Manitoba recently acknowledged prisoners at Rockwood Institution near Winnipeg were gorging on lobster thanks to an inmate who was smuggling in seafood, along with liquor and narcotics.
In Saskatoon, the men would have required permission to hold the barbecue and would have needed help from staff to purchase the groceries with money from the inmates. They would also have needed permission from unit staff to take the pictures, and a staff member would have had to get them developed.
The finished film never made it back to the inmates, Mr. Beatty said.
"I want, and I have asked for, an investigation to start immediately to determine how this event was approved, and the supervision that was provided [for] this event was obviously inadequate."
Mr. Beatty said he was "very offended" by the photos and disappointed in the staff. From now on, any inmate barbecue will require his personal approval, he said.
"I do not want this to occur again."
Martin Doell, president of the Union of Canadian Correctional Officers local at the facility, said managers have been warned by corrections officers about problems with the aggressive inmates unit.
"Everything that's allowed down there is not allowed in the rest of the prison," he said.
Mr. Doell said correctional officers do not have the authority to approve activities such as the party, and were not involved in helping organize it.
"We're disappointed that this was okayed, and we're not for this type of thing, and we're somewhat embarrassed by it."
Several of the inmates were angry the photos were leaked to the media and said they shouldn't be blamed for what happened. The investigation is expected to take two to three weeks.