Since structured intervention units were introduced in Correctional Service Canada institutions on Nov. 30 of last year, replacing segregation units, the union that represents correctional officers has claimed the new policy has led to an increase in assaults on officers by inmates.

But statistics provided to the Whig-Standard by CSC for the Ontario region say inmate assaults on officers for the first month after SIUs were launched at two of seven Ontario institutions — Millhaven Institution and Grand Valley Institution for Women in Kitchener — is about the same or less.

The Union of Canadian Correctional Officers was concerned about a particularly violent assault on a correctional officer at Warkworth Institution near Peterborough on Jan. 16 and is expecting more assaults, as offenders committing them no longer will be sent to segregation and locked up for up to 23 hours a day for their behaviour.

Inmates committing violent acts in other Ontario institutions may be sent to SIUs in Millhaven or Grand Valley, according to Commissioner’s Directive 711-Structured Intervention Units.

Statistics provided by CSC did not include the Jan. 16 incident as the cutoff for the stats was Jan. 12.

“Our concerns are inmate accountability,” Rob Finucan, Ontario president for UCCO, said in an interview last month. “I’m seeing across the country there’s no accountability for their actions.

“The union felt this would happen with the elimination of the segregation and the new SIU that the inmates feel they can do anything and there’s no repercussion for their actions.”

In December 2018, inmate assaults on officers in the region totalled 15, all at Millhaven Institution. In December 2019 — the first month after the introduction of SIUs — the total for the month was three officer assaults: two at Millhaven and one at Collins Bay Institution.

Incidents included in CSC’s results have at least one identified instigator who committed the incident or one identified victim and have at least one person involved in the incident who incurred an injury of major or serious bodily harm.

Statistics for the entire fiscal year 2019 (April 1, 2018, to March 31, 2019) show that Millhaven is the most violent institution in the Ontario region, with a total of 109 assaults on staff and 74 inmate-on-inmate assaults. Collins Bay was the next highest locally with nine staff assaults and 11 inmate assaults, Joyceville Institution had six assaults on staff incidents and 26 inmate assaults, and Bath Institution had zero staff assaults and 14 inmate assaults.

Outside the Kingston area, Grand Valley had 27 assaults on inmates in 2019 and two on staff, Beaver Creek Institution had 13 inmate assaults and one staff assault, while Warkworth had 25 inmate assaults and seven staff assaults.

CSC’s 2020 year-to-date statistics so far show five staff assaults at Warkworth, including the serious assault on Jan. 16. The 2020 year-to-date statistics in the Kingston area show Millhaven has had 25 staff assaults so far, followed by Collins Bay with nine, and Joycevile and Bath institutions with one each.

Under the new model, inmates in an SIU spend a minimum of four hours a day outside their cell, including two hours a day of meaningful interaction with others.

“The safety and security of employees and the public is a priority for CSC,” Dana Lambert-Minichilli, media relations and outreach adviser for CSC, said in an email.

“We recognize the challenges associated with working in a correctional environment and have a number of strategies in place to manage and reduce violent incidents in its institutions in order to ensure a safe and healthy work environment for its employees. Prison violence is not tolerated and disciplinary action is taken, and criminal charges may be laid against offenders involved in violent incidents.

“CSC takes a number of measures to ensure our facilities provide a correctional environment that is safe, secure and contributes to offender rehabilitation, and, ultimately, public safety. This includes enhancing intelligence and information systems, implementing population management, and adding new search and surveillance technology.”

Lambert-Minichilli also said CSC uses dynamic security, which, through ongoing observation and interaction, enables staff to gauge the climate of the institution, notice changes in behaviour that may prevent an incident, and develop a level of trust and confidence that can facilitate the sharing of intelligence information to staff by inmates.

When violent incidents occur, Lambert-Minichilli said, CSC offers the critical incident stress management program, which responds to the needs of employees involved in challenging situations and assists them in managing their reactions in healthy ways.

They also offer the employee assistance program, a voluntary, confidential program that also provides support, including counselling and followup intervention for a variety of issues, including those that are work-related.

imacalpine@postmedia.com

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