SGEU demands better security at Saskatchewan jails

'You know, you're playing with a ticking time bomb.... The government has to get a handle on this.' -  Bob Bymoen.

Saskatoon (16 Sept. 2010) - Guards at Saskatchewan jails are calling for better security in the wake of a weekend incident at the Saskatoon Correctional Centre where three inmates forced their way into a staff room and threatened three workers with iron rods.

More staff were called and the incident ended without injuries after the institution was locked down and inmates were confined to their cells.

Bob Bymoen, president of the Saskatchewan Government and General Employees' Union (SGEU/NUPGE), which represents workers at provincial jails, says the episode is another reminder that more must be done to make the jails safer.

"You know, you're playing with a ticking time bomb," Bymoen told CBC News. "The government has to get a handle on this. You can't keep having three times as many inmates in a centre than is supposed to be there."

The Saskatoon facility has nearly 100 more inmates than it was designed to handle and Bymoen says a crucial issue is the lack of secure separation between inmates and correctional workers.

"They're in direct contact at all times with the inmates. There's no separation with their offices and the inmates in those correctional centres and they don't have other security provisions to handle the level of inmates that they have," he adds.

Bymoen wants the government to implement recommendations contained in the 2009 report of the Saskatchewan Ombudsman.

The report said overcrowded jails with a lack of programming were a recipe for disaster and that a new remand centre should be opened in Saskatoon.

NUPGE

The National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE) is one of Canada's largest labour organizations with over 340,000 members. Our mission is to improve the lives of working families and to build a stronger Canada by ensuring our common wealth is used for the common good. NUPGE