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Most inmates sent to segregation in Ontario’s jails aren’t there as a punishment for discipline breaches, says the province’s independent adviser on corrections.
Howard Sapers, who completed a report last year on the use of segregation in Ontario and is working on a new one on violence inside the institutions, was responding to a claim by the union representing staff at the Ottawa-Carleton Detention Centre that restrictions on the use of segregation had made it “open season” on jail staff.
Two correctional officers have been off work since they were jumped and injured by inmates in an assault on May 25.
Scott Forde, the interim president of OPSEU Local 411, said when the offenders weren’t punished and a lockdown was lifted the next day, it sent a message that “it’s open season on staff.”
“It embarrasses me to say that, but that’s the message that was sent and it was clearly received by the offenders,” Forde said.
But segregation is just one of the ways to discipline inmates for infractions and is a method that many other countries are moving away from, Sapers said.
“The movement in North America and elsewhere is to move away from the use of segregation,” Sapers said. “The purpose (of incarceration) is not to teach people how to live in a cage, it’s to prepare them to be released back into society.”
Ontario curbed its use of segregation, limiting maximum stays to 15 days, in October 2016, before Sapers had even been asked to investigate the practice. His report was delivered in March 2017 and contained 62 recommendations. Ontario passed a new Correctional Services Act in May, but the act has yet to receive royal assent and its changes have not come into effect.
Other ways of disciplining inmates for infractions include withdrawing privileges, such as exercise or gym time, withdrawing work privileges or limiting inmates’ movement or social interaction without full segregation, he said.
Most inmates in segregation are there for administrative purposes and not as punishment for offences, Sapers said. That can include mental illness, inmate safety or for the vague reason of the “good order of the institution.”
Sapers is conducting another review of violence in the province’s jails and expects to release an interim report in August, but the work has been difficult because of inconsistencies in the data collected. Sapers and his team have had to go back to original incident reports to get more details about why and how assaults occurred, and who was involved.
“Frankly, the information base is a mess,” he said. “It’s very hard to reach any conclusions about the type of incidents that are happening or where they are happening.”
It’s not known how the change in government will affect the study, but Sapers says he hopes to meet with incoming premier Doug Ford to discuss correctional issues.
bcrawford@postmedia.com
Twitter.com/getBAC
Related
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Howard Sapers, who completed a report last year on the use of segregation in Ontario and is working on a new one on violence inside the institutions, was responding to a claim by the union representing staff at the Ottawa-Carleton Detention Centre that restrictions on the use of segregation had made it “open season” on jail staff.
Two correctional officers have been off work since they were jumped and injured by inmates in an assault on May 25.
Scott Forde, the interim president of OPSEU Local 411, said when the offenders weren’t punished and a lockdown was lifted the next day, it sent a message that “it’s open season on staff.”
“It embarrasses me to say that, but that’s the message that was sent and it was clearly received by the offenders,” Forde said.
But segregation is just one of the ways to discipline inmates for infractions and is a method that many other countries are moving away from, Sapers said.
“The movement in North America and elsewhere is to move away from the use of segregation,” Sapers said. “The purpose (of incarceration) is not to teach people how to live in a cage, it’s to prepare them to be released back into society.”
Ontario curbed its use of segregation, limiting maximum stays to 15 days, in October 2016, before Sapers had even been asked to investigate the practice. His report was delivered in March 2017 and contained 62 recommendations. Ontario passed a new Correctional Services Act in May, but the act has yet to receive royal assent and its changes have not come into effect.
Other ways of disciplining inmates for infractions include withdrawing privileges, such as exercise or gym time, withdrawing work privileges or limiting inmates’ movement or social interaction without full segregation, he said.
Most inmates in segregation are there for administrative purposes and not as punishment for offences, Sapers said. That can include mental illness, inmate safety or for the vague reason of the “good order of the institution.”
Sapers is conducting another review of violence in the province’s jails and expects to release an interim report in August, but the work has been difficult because of inconsistencies in the data collected. Sapers and his team have had to go back to original incident reports to get more details about why and how assaults occurred, and who was involved.
“Frankly, the information base is a mess,” he said. “It’s very hard to reach any conclusions about the type of incidents that are happening or where they are happening.”
It’s not known how the change in government will affect the study, but Sapers says he hopes to meet with incoming premier Doug Ford to discuss correctional issues.
bcrawford@postmedia.com
Twitter.com/getBAC
Related
- Limits on segregation use has made it 'open season' on jail guards: Union
- 'Unreasonable, wrong and oppressive'
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