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The Saskatoon Provincial Correctional Centre (SPCC) went into lockdown Monday after two incidents resulted in injuries to four inmates.
On Thursday an 18-year-old inmate was rushed to hospital after being stabbed. Brent Checkosis had connections to the Tiki Laverdiere murder and was in the correctional centre after being charged with accessory to murder after the fact, improperly interferring with a human body and vehicle theft.
Saskatchewan Government and General Employees Union (SGEU) president, Bob Bymoen said the guards are getting worried about violence at the centre.
“The corrections officers are very concerned. They’re concerned about their safety and about the safety of the inmates. They’re also concerned that if they speak out, they might be disciplined for it,” said Bymoen.
He says the Saskatchewan government needs to get more involved in finding ways to stop these incidents from happening in the province’s jails.
“It’s creating a very volatile situation. Morale gets lower and lower and lower at the centres. It’s getting harder to recruit and retain employees and the government needs to do something about it,” said Bymoen.
Bymoen adds, there is also more gang activity in jails and that’s making the situation worse.
“The intelligence and the effectiveness of the gangs keeps getting stronger and stronger, and they need to deal with it inside the centres,” said Bymoen.
He also said, overcrowding and under-staffing can lead to problems in the jails.
“There is a problem with staffing levels at times. As the centres and the ward gets more crowded, it takes more people to oversee it, and they don’t always get the support they need there,” said Bymoen.
Drew Wilby, with the Saskatchewan Ministry of Justice, says there is no indication that violent incidents are increasing in the province’s correctional facilities. He says the Ministry continues to review the recent incidents at the Saskatoon Correctional Centre to determine what occurred and how similar incidents can be prevented in the future.
Wilby adds, gangs are something jails deal with on a daily basis, and decisions about where to best house members of various gangs is just one consideration that has to be made to ensure safety at each facility.