After a weekend incident this past Sunday (Sept. 22) at the Prince George Regional Correctional Centre, the BCGEU vice-president of Corrections and Sheriff Services calling for more changes.
"There was a very serious incident at the Prince George Regional Correctional Centre [on Sept. 22]," Vice-President Corrections and Sheriff Services with the British Columbia Government and Service Employees' Union Dan Purdy told PrinceGeorgeMatters.
The incident happened between 8 and 8:30 p.m. according to Purdy.
There was one inmate who suffered minor injuries.
Purdy said he didn't know all the details of the incident when asked what led to the mentioned incident.
"It's something that from time-to-time, inmates will react to what they don't like," he added. "[inmates] Don't follow direction and sometimes those things happen and it's unfortunate."
When contacted by PrinceGeorgeMatters, B.C. Corrections said the incident was handled quickly while clarifying details of the situation, saying that media reports calling the incident a riot were "inaccurate."
"B.C. Corrections can confirm that a small group of inmates set off internal alarms at Prince George Regional Correctional Centre on Sept. 22, and a brief lockdown followed," an emailed statement read. "Although local fire personnel attended the centre, there was no fire. One inmate sustained minor injuries in the incident, but no staff were injured."
Dean Purdy is the Vice-President of Corrections and Sheriff Services with the BCGEU. (via BCGEU)The Prince George Regional Correctional Centre has 172 cells for men and 21 for women but as of Sept. 22, B.C. Corrections says there was a total of 249 in the facility.
The union have met with Minister of Public Safety Mike Farnworth regarding the conditions that the union describes, offering ideas to help the load correctional officers face each day.
Purdy said prior to 2002, the officer to inmate ratios was tapped out at one officer to 20 inmates.
Any time that went above 20, a second officer would be assigned to the living unit.
"We would like to see that in place again," said Purdy. "We thnk you have immediate backup but you have that psychological and physical support in place when you have situations like this."
He added last year, there was a record high of assaults at jails in B.C. on correctional officers from inmates coming in at 124.
Purdy also said inmate violence is also at an all-time high.
"The correctional officers that work at the Prince George Regional Correctional Centre do a great job protecting public safety," added Purdy. "They have one of the most difficult jobs in any field."
Purdy added numerous officers are suffering from acute stress, PTSD and other conditions due to being overworked while working huge hours of overtime to keep the facility running.
"Something has to give," he added. "We can't keep working in these conditions."
