Justice minister says double bunking at jails won't put staff, inmates at risk

By Tina Comeau

THE VANGUARD

NovaNewsNow.com

Despite the views of critics to the province’s plan, Nova Scotia’s minister of justice says with the appropriate staffing and operational requirements in place, the safety of guards and inmates will not be put at risk due to double bunking in two of the province’s correctional centres, including the one here in Yarmouth.

The province intends to double the inmate capacity at the Southwest Nova Scotia Correctional Facility in Yarmouth from 38 to 76 by bringing in portable beds. It plans to increase capacity at the Central Nova Scotia Correctional Facility in Burnside from 224 male offender beds to 336 by doing the same.

The reason, says the province, is it needs to address overcrowding at the province’s adult correctional facilities.

Justice Minister Cecil Clarke says capacity is being increased at the Yarmouth and Dartmouth jails because as the newest facilities in the province, their design allows for the addition of a second bunk in their cells. Clarke describes the portable beds as a hard, plastic moulded frame that will sit on the floor with a mattress laid on top of it. The single cells now have a normal bunk that is part of the cement configuration of the cell.

“The cells are built large enough and adequate enough to provide for proper and safe housing of inmates,” Clarke said in an interview with the Yarmouth Vanguard on Tuesday, pointing out in the correctional facility in Cape Breton there remains ward systems in place, where you have up to 12 inmates in one room that have operated, he says, “very effectively.”

Clarke says with appropriate levels of staffing to meet any additional numbers at the correctional facilities, along with adherence to operational requirements, there should be no problems.

But no everyone shares that view.

Jim Gosse, president of the Nova Scotia Government Employees Union local that represents corrections officers in the province, says even before the government’s plan was handed down they had concerns that correctional facilities in the province are understaffed. That wasn’t taking into account double bunking which Goose says will further add to the issue.

“We’re against double bunking and we’re against it for the right reasons. We believe it poses a significant risk to officer safety and it poses a risk to the general public as well,” he said in an interview Tuesday morning.

For the union to even consider entertaining the idea of double bunking, Gosse said, the justice department has to provide the levels of staffing the union is looking for. They are also looking for commitments from the government that it intends to build new correctional facilities in the province so that double bunking at the Yarmouth and Burnside facilities does not become a permanent fixture.

Replacement of facilities in Cumberland and Antigonish counties are on the government’s priority list.

As far as staffing goes, Gosse says prior to a memo that went out last Friday about the double bunking plan, the union was in a meeting with the department in which they were told the plan was to add an additional 12 fulltime officers at the Yarmouth jail. The union feels that’s not enough.

“We’re saying we need 16, which is basically another four positions before we’ll even entertain this idea of double bunking,” Gosse said.

The justice department’s memo on dealing with the over capacity issue does not lay out staffing numbers. It does say that the staff complement at both jails will be increased to accommodate the additional populations.

The province says an overcrowding problem in its jails is largely due to the remand population, which the justice minister says is up 60 per cent.

Clarke said Tuesday the process of hiring additional staff for Yarmouth and Burnside will begin immediately, although all of the new people hired might not be in place for another month or two. And as for how many will be hired, Clarke says it’s a difficult to give an exact number since it will depend on the inmate population.

“It will affect everything from the kitchen staff to corrections officers to management,” he says, adding the province is committed to seeing that staffing levels meet what is required with the larger inmate populations.

“There will be appropriate levels in place so their safety and security should not be brought into question at all,” says Clarke, who admits that the province still has antiquated jail facilities, but it has been and continues to work to improve that.

“As we look at the two new facilities, as well as the replacement of the Cape Breton facility, we’ll be able to take all of the design elements and lessons learned and continue to see further improvements.”