Lockdowns common as HMP grapples with violence, drug use
Statistics show over 200 lockdowns inside prison over 3 years
Statistics released by the Newfoundland and Labrador's provincial government show drugs and violence are predominantly to blame for more than 200 lockdowns at Her Majesty's Penitentiary over the last three years.
"The numbers are quite concerning but it also reflects the work environment that we talk about our correctional officers working in everyday," said Jerry Earle, president of NAPE, which represents correctional officers.
Over the last several years, HMP — the largest jail in the province — has seen numerous riots and violent attacks come to the public's attention.
Statistics released through an access to information request shows the causes of more than 200 lockdowns at HMP between 2014 to 2016:
- Drugs: 64
- Assault: 78
- Weapons: 12
- Drugs/weapons: 2
- Assault/strong-arming: 1
- Strong-arming for medication: 20
- Disruptive behaviour: 14
- Drugs/homebrew: 1
- Destroying unit property: 1
- Threats of violence: 1
- Assault/drugs: 1
- Medical emergency: 3
- Drugs/strong-arming:
- Contractors: 2
- Disruptive/strong-arming: 1
At the West Coast Correctional Institution in Stephenvile, just seven lockdowns were recorded — the majority happening in 2015.
An emergency hospital escort in 2016 resulted in a single lockdown at the Women's Correctional Centre in Clarenville.
No lockdowns were recorded at the Bishop's Falls Correctional Centre or the Labrador Correctional Centre.
'Will only get worse'
First built in the Victorian-era, critics of HMP have long called for it to be destroyed and a new institution built — a long-standing promise that has hung over many different provincial governments.
"We will continue to look for this Draconian facility needs to be replaced and if it doesn't happen in the not so distant future, what we're seeing here will continue to escalate and will only get worse," Earle told CBC News Tuesday.
HMP lacks necessary programming and inmates are being housed in a facility that has far outlived its usefulness, Earle said.
Most alarming is the number of assaults and drug-related incidents, something he says is indicative of what's happening in society.
"There's a number of creative ways that people find to get things in [to the prison], everything from things being sewn into clothing to the most simple of people firing things over the walls [of HMP]."
Earle said he plans on meeting with the Minister of Justice and Public Safety, and frontline correctional officers to discuss what can be done in the interim, while they wait for a new jail to be built.