Locked in their cells for the third weekend in a row, a group of inmates at Toronto’s west-end superjail scrounged up some scrap paper and wrote a note to anyone who cared.

“This letter is to inform the public of the living conditions in the Toronto South Detention Centre, or lack of,” read the dispatch, penned last month and later obtained by the Star.

The inmates described a situation at a boiling point: Lockdowns every weekend — and often on weekdays — that keep them confined to their cells for 24 hours a day, for several days in a row. No access to showers. No access to the yard for fresh air. No family visits and no appointments with lawyers.

“It’s almost like solitary confinement, except it’s two to a cell instead of one,” said Karen McArthur, a Toronto defence lawyer. “They’re not getting out. All they can do in that cell is urinate, defecate and eat. It’s disgusting.”

Routine lockdowns have become the norm in Ontario jails, where union officials representing correctional workers say a government hiring freeze several years ago has left institutions chronically understaffed and unable to effectively manage the inmates. It’s an ongoing issue at many jails, but particularly troubling, says McArthur, at an institution that was meant to be a model for future detention centres.

In a statement, a spokeswoman for the Correctional Services ministry said staffing shortages “resulting from sick calls, vacation leaves and other leaves” are the main reason for the lockdowns at the Toronto South.

Problems have plagued the jail since it opened less than 18 months ago. The infirmary remains closed, despite assurances from the ministry earlier this year that it would begin operating by spring. Two inmates died in February; one by suicide, the other after a drug overdose. Some strides have been made: the mental-health assessment unit is now open and running. But the union that represents jail workers says inmate-on-staff violence is rampant and employee morale is low.

“Assaults on staff are through the roof,” said Monte Vieselmeyer, corrections division chair for OPSEU. His statement is based on anecdotal evidence. He said the ministry has not provided the union with recent figures.

Ontario’s ombudsman has received 30 complaints about various lockdowns at the Toronto South this year — three times more than any other provincial jail. The Central East Correctional Centre in Lindsay was the subject of 10 lockdown complaints over the same period. A spokeswoman for Ombudsman André Marin said his office is monitoring the issue and following up with the ministry.

The situation is “unbearable,” the Toronto South inmates wrote. “Being incarcerated, we are often forgotten. We are sons, fathers and friends. Hopefully this reaches someone who can help us.”

The Toronto South, a maximum-security facility that replaced the Don Jail and the Toronto West Detention Centre when it opened in January 2014, is currently operating at half capacity with an all-male inmate population of roughly 800, including many who are awaiting trial — sometimes for years — on charges that have not been proven.

“Our government’s most important priority is the health and safety of all our staff and inmates as we transform our corrections system and the Toronto South Detention Centre,” said Lauren Callighen, spokeswoman for Minister Yasir Naqvi, in an emailed statement.

“The ministry works closely with staff to manage daily staffing demands but there are periods when staff shortages result in lockdowns as we must ensure the safety and security of staff and inmates during this period of time. Ministry is actively recruiting and training new staff, including correctional officers.”

According to figures provided by the ministry, the Toronto South was on partial or full lockdown due to staffing issues for 15 days between Jan. 1 and March 31 this year. That figure doesn’t include lockdowns imposed for safety reasons — the traditional purpose of the heightened security measure.

The ministry said the jail could not provide a lockdown count for April and May because the information has not yet been reviewed. But inmates and jail workers — all of whom asked the Star to withhold their names for fear of reprisal — say it has been happening nearly every weekend and frequently during the week.

As of Wednesday, inmates in one unit had been on lockdown for 32 days out of 50, according to a source inside the jail. The ministry could not confirm that number. Correctional officers are warning inmates that it will only get worse as employees take holidays over the summer.

Defence lawyer Sid Freeman, a Toronto-based director with the Criminal Lawyers’ Association, has been working with jail management to resolve some of the issues, including the cancellation of lawyer-client visits on weekends. She said management has responded well to her concerns.

“It’s going to take them a while to get the bugs worked out,” Freeman said. “That doesn’t make it OK in the meantime. But the important thing is whether or not we can resolve it.”

As for the larger issue of staffing-related lockdowns, Freeman said the practice must stop.

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“There are a lot of guys in there who are awaiting trial, and when you are awaiting trial you are presumed innocent.”

GROWING PAINS, OR PERMANENT PROBLEMS?

According to Monte Vieselmeyer, a Toronto-area correctional officer and OPSEU union representative, several factors have undermined efforts to make the Toronto South Detention Centre institution a success.

Chronic understaffing

Vieselmeyer said the ministry is short by at least 300 full-time and 500 fixed-term or “backfill” correctional workers across the province. All of this stems from a hiring freeze several years ago that has since been lifted, Vieselmeyer said, but will continue to impact staffing for years to come. The ministry said it is actively recruiting and training new staff. Vieselmeyer said lockdowns at the Toronto South undermine the effectiveness of the open, free-range living environment the province was trying to create in building a new institution based on the U.S. direct-supervision model.

Low confidence in new model

The direct-supervision model places correctional workers inside communal living units with inmates, rather than having guards observe from afar. Most units at the Toronto South follow that model; each unit has a TV area, a small fresh-air space and a series of cells. (A few regular units house inmates who need extra monitoring.)

When implemented properly, the direct-supervision model has been shown to reduce jail violence. Vieselmeyer, who toured institutions across the U.S. to learn about the model, said he developed a good sense of what is needed to make it work. “But I’m just not seeing it at the Toronto South,” he said. He said the ministry failed to heed concerns raised by its front-line staff, so the buy-in has been low and tensions are high. Deficiencies in the building design — inmates have shattered “unbreakable” glass and flooded their cells by yanking down sprinkler heads — have further weakened confidence.

Brand-new facilities still closed

The jail has a state-of-the-art infirmary, 26-bed mental health assessment unit and gymnasium, but none of these facilities opened when the institution did. Prisoners with physical and mental illnesses were kept in solitary confinement during the jail’s first year of operation. Fourteen beds in the mental health unit are now open and in use, but the infirmary and gym remain closed due to staffing issues. The jail is currently using one of the direct-supervision units as a medical wing.

Vieselmeyer said the lack of services and programs has contributed to inmate unrest. The ministry countered that many programs are currently available to inmates and a plan for the gym will be determined when additional staff are hired.

The rollout

The bottom line, Vieselmeyer said, is that the jail wasn’t ready to open when it did and the problems that have evolved will require major interventions to fix. “We want this to work,” Vieselmeyer said. But in order to do that, he added, the ministry needs to hire more front-line staff, work on communicating effectively with employees and offer further and ongoing training on the direct-supervision model. “Sometimes,” he said, “you have to hit the reset button.”

In a statement, the ministry countered: “We have complete confidence in our correctional officers to perform their jobs effectively and professionally, and we are confident that direct supervision will lead to a more secure and safe environment for our staff and all those in our custody.”