Alberta Prison Strike - Design Issues in the new prisons constructed??

[Xelebes]

CBC News

Concerns over open-concept design

The facility's network of hallways leads to different self-contained pods, where prisoners are held. In most cases, the pods are all open.

Newer correctional centres in Canada use this design, called direct supervision. There are no barriers separating the guards from the prisoners in the designated pods. The hope is the layout will help guards keep a closer eye on inmates and improve how the two sides relate to each other.

Jeremy Veenstraw of Alberta Correctional Services recently told CBC News it will take some time for staff to adapt to the new design in the massive remand centre.

"It's a lot more open. It's a lot less restricting. It puts officers face to face with inmates," he said.

Anyone know the specifics of this design?

[240glt]

We were at the open house a few weeks ago before it opened. I am no expert in design of these types of institutions but my partner has been a sheriff for 15 years, and indicated that there are some very concerning aspects of the design of the new facility. The "open concept" is one for sure, but there are other things that make the facility more dangerous.

I do question the timing of the report though. This should have been brought forward years ago, not a week before it opened.

My partner is now on strike, whihc has less to do with the safety issues at the remand, and more to do with the fact that the staff who raised concerns were reprimanded. So much for that whistle-blower legislation that was put in place on April 1st

[Xelebes]

Trying to find the specific details of our work in that facility (minor sections of the security) that I can share, but I can see why the issues may have sounded good previously but when actually confronted with it, it falls apart. I understand many of the problems come down to training but there are still some design issues despite that.

[Xelebes]

Details of the conditions are coming out. News conference being tweeted on CBC are saying there are some problems in keeping prisoner-guard ratios managed, with one scary incident resulting in one guard being swarmed by 72 inmates.