Former prisoners criticize decision to close girls' jail

Two young Prince George women are upset that the city's jail for girls is closing.

The announcement by the provincial government that all imprisoned females under the age of 18 will now be housed in the Burnaby youth containment centre is going to hurt more than help, they told The Citizen.

"I think it's kinda [messed] up they're closing it down," said Natasha Brignall, 18, who was jailed four times at the Prince George girls' facility, starting at about age 15. "Half my family went there too, when they were young. I'm from P.G. and my family would come visit me. A lot of the other girls were from out of town, and they never had any visitors. Now they'll be even more cut off from their families"

Another girl, identified as T.S. because she is under 18 years old, said she was 'devastated' by the

decision.

"It's gonna be so weird for girls up here, getting taken away from their family, practically," said T.S.

T.S. has been jailed in Prince George's facility three times in the past three years, and was once transferred to the Burnaby institution to split her up from a

co-accused in a robbery case (both were convicted).

"I got to visit my family a lot in Prince George but in Burnaby not once for two and half months," said T.S. "In Burnaby I felt lost. It was a much bigger place, and I didn't know anybody, and the staff weren't nice. They were really nice to me in Prince George."

Brignall agreed that the staffing and programming in Prince George was helpful. She, like T.S., is on probation for past offenses but both face no new charges and both are making progress in

rehabilitation.

While the government says the changes will allow for better programs targeting incarcerated young women, both T.S. and Brignall argued that it was the small size of the Prince George inmate population benefited them. Not only would having more girls around strain staff, it would also promote violence.

"With just four or five of us there was already so much drama, so more would make it worse," T.S. said. "There will be more fights in the unit."

Said Brignall: "I had friends who spent time in Burnaby. Even then, it was all rowdy and rude. Now it's going to be worse."