A federal corrections officer on the Prairies is breaking their silence to speak out against the expanded rollout of the Prison Needle Exchange Program..“All of us are so much against it because inmates should not have needles in a prison, regardless of doing it for drug safety. This isn't even part of our contract. The healthcare services doesn't even want it in the jail,” the officer said on the condition of their name being withheld..“They would bring their dirty needle to healthcare, they sign out that they returned it and sign out a new one. And then we're not supposed to know who has the needle when we're doing cell checks. We have no idea who's doing what, if we're going to get stabbed. If we open that cell door and he just comes flying at us with a syringe full of bleach or air, it doesn't matter.”.The upcoming national rollout of the PNEP was covered in a feature by this author published on Saturday. The officer here said the PNEP creates a “big catch-22” because it contradicts the normal approach to drug policy and safety. They also expressed concerns that the approach would inhibit rehabilitation, increase the chances of overdose deaths, and leave employees vulnerable to being blamed for it..“Charge them, send them to jail, let them have illegal drugs, but they can't have the illegal drugs. So if I catch them with the illegal drugs in say the rec yard, I can charge them and take it but if I catch them in their cell, I can't take it,” they explained..“If they do the drugs, and then they die, our CSC is such a piece of crap in some ways because they're always going to go after the correctional officers. So if a guy overdoses, and we can't save his life, every single officer gets investigated. And every single officer goes through reviews with the video cameras.”.Guards may soon turn a blind eye to individuals in their cells with needles the same way they don’t interfere with sex between prisoners..“If you see two guys doing that, you have to ask if it's consensual or not. If they say yes, you carry on; if they say no, then you call for extra staff and you open the cell and pull them out. Then you have to call the police if he wants to charge the inmate with rape,” they explained..“I've been there long enough that the guys know that I don't want to see it or hear it, I just need to know that you're breathing. If I've walked by and I see that you guys are doing that, I know you're both alive, so I'll just say it was consensual. But sometimes they put couples together too, right? You have a transsexual, or whatever, and her boyfriend, or whatever you want to call it--they usually will be able to be roomed together, because then you know if anything happened, it's a relationship.”.In a previous article, Jake Stulzle, a vice president for the prairie region of the Union of Canadian Correctional Officer, said Drumheller Institution has a constant battle with drones dropping contraband. The unnamed employee of this article confirmed it is a problem in their institution as well..“There's not supposed to be illegal drugs in a jail. And of course, sometimes we miss them, especially with drones. Now it's so hard to catch. We've had cell phones, we've had weapons, we've had drugs. You name it, they're flying it over as long as the drone can hold the weight.”.The employee said the $43 million lawsuit by female employees against staff at the Edmonton Institution is a rare instance when dysfunction hits the news. The corrections officer said the work environment has taken a toll “because of my stress — not dealing with the inmates, but dealing with management. Our mental health is terrible for staff.”.The officer said their desire to be a whistleblower is what led them to taking a professional risk by reaching out to media..“Everything that happens, it happens quietly. It's never in the news. It's the government and they make us sign that we can't speak publicly. They can fire me, I lose my pension,” the officer said..“I want people to see how bad this is. This is what the federal government is producing with their employees with depression from the work environment and what they're doing with the inmates and how they're coming out. You can blame the system on this one 100%.”
A federal corrections officer on the Prairies is breaking their silence to speak out against the expanded rollout of the Prison Needle Exchange Program..“All of us are so much against it because inmates should not have needles in a prison, regardless of doing it for drug safety. This isn't even part of our contract. The healthcare services doesn't even want it in the jail,” the officer said on the condition of their name being withheld..“They would bring their dirty needle to healthcare, they sign out that they returned it and sign out a new one. And then we're not supposed to know who has the needle when we're doing cell checks. We have no idea who's doing what, if we're going to get stabbed. If we open that cell door and he just comes flying at us with a syringe full of bleach or air, it doesn't matter.”.The upcoming national rollout of the PNEP was covered in a feature by this author published on Saturday. The officer here said the PNEP creates a “big catch-22” because it contradicts the normal approach to drug policy and safety. They also expressed concerns that the approach would inhibit rehabilitation, increase the chances of overdose deaths, and leave employees vulnerable to being blamed for it..“Charge them, send them to jail, let them have illegal drugs, but they can't have the illegal drugs. So if I catch them with the illegal drugs in say the rec yard, I can charge them and take it but if I catch them in their cell, I can't take it,” they explained..“If they do the drugs, and then they die, our CSC is such a piece of crap in some ways because they're always going to go after the correctional officers. So if a guy overdoses, and we can't save his life, every single officer gets investigated. And every single officer goes through reviews with the video cameras.”.Guards may soon turn a blind eye to individuals in their cells with needles the same way they don’t interfere with sex between prisoners..“If you see two guys doing that, you have to ask if it's consensual or not. If they say yes, you carry on; if they say no, then you call for extra staff and you open the cell and pull them out. Then you have to call the police if he wants to charge the inmate with rape,” they explained..“I've been there long enough that the guys know that I don't want to see it or hear it, I just need to know that you're breathing. If I've walked by and I see that you guys are doing that, I know you're both alive, so I'll just say it was consensual. But sometimes they put couples together too, right? You have a transsexual, or whatever, and her boyfriend, or whatever you want to call it--they usually will be able to be roomed together, because then you know if anything happened, it's a relationship.”.In a previous article, Jake Stulzle, a vice president for the prairie region of the Union of Canadian Correctional Officer, said Drumheller Institution has a constant battle with drones dropping contraband. The unnamed employee of this article confirmed it is a problem in their institution as well..“There's not supposed to be illegal drugs in a jail. And of course, sometimes we miss them, especially with drones. Now it's so hard to catch. We've had cell phones, we've had weapons, we've had drugs. You name it, they're flying it over as long as the drone can hold the weight.”.The employee said the $43 million lawsuit by female employees against staff at the Edmonton Institution is a rare instance when dysfunction hits the news. The corrections officer said the work environment has taken a toll “because of my stress — not dealing with the inmates, but dealing with management. Our mental health is terrible for staff.”.The officer said their desire to be a whistleblower is what led them to taking a professional risk by reaching out to media..“Everything that happens, it happens quietly. It's never in the news. It's the government and they make us sign that we can't speak publicly. They can fire me, I lose my pension,” the officer said..“I want people to see how bad this is. This is what the federal government is producing with their employees with depression from the work environment and what they're doing with the inmates and how they're coming out. You can blame the system on this one 100%.”
