Attacks on jail guards jump amid segregation changes

The one good thing about DavePeever's worst day on the job as a correctional officer is that he doesn't remember most of it.

It was the day an inmate tried to kill him, Peeversaid.

He remembersturning his back on the man for a second while he unlocked a security door at the Ottawa-Carleton Detention Centre (OCDC).

I can't even think of that place without shaking.- Dave Peever, OCDC correctional officer

"I take the key out to open the door, and that's when he sucker-punched me," Peever said.

Then he blacked out.

"What Dave can't tell you is what happened after he was unconscious," said Scott Forde, Peever's colleagueand now acting president of OPSEULocal 411, the unionrepresenting guards at OCDC.

"The inmate tried to choke him from behind, and used the wall as leverage," said Forde, who isconvinced the inmate would have killed Peever if other officers hadn't jumped in during the incident on Nov.2, 2016.

"This was a very close call, and franklya traumatic experience for many," Forde said. "Myself included."

Peeverwas rushed to hospital. Hisphysical wounds healed quickly, but theemotional scars have takenmuch longer.

"You want to go back to work. You want to do your job, and you can't.I can't even think of that place without shaking."

Dramatic rise in violence

Violent actsagainst correctionalofficers, which includethreats, spitting, punching, kickingand attacks with weapons, have beenon the rise in Ontario jails. According to statistics from the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services, there were 793 suchincidents reported by guards at the province's 25 jails in 2016.By the end of June 2017 the latest data availablethere had already been617 reports.

AtOCDCthere were 41 incidents ofinmate-on-staff violence in 2016, and 46 in the first half of 2017.Last year's final tally is expected later this spring.

The spike caps off a steady rise in violence over the past decade. There's been a corresponding rise and recently, a corresponding spikein physical assaults against guards.

It's not just happening in Ottawa.

On April 25, two guards atthe Toronto South Detention Centre landed in hospital followingan attack by two inmates.

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OPSEUblames the wave of violence on changes to the rules around segregation in the province's jails,part of the government's bid to modernize thecorrectional system.

The maximum time in segregation has nowbeen halved to 15 days, and inmates in segregationhave access to television, phones and canteen privileges. Its function as a deterrent to bad behaviour is so diminished, OPSEUsays, that some inmates are fighting to getinto segregation.

According to OPSEU, themajority of segregated cells in Ontario's jails are occupied by inmates with mental health issues, leaving little room for violent inmates who need to be isolated for the safety of others inmates and officers alike.

Like a 'bag of fireworks'

"It's like a bag of fireworks,"a female correctional officeratOCDCsaid. CBChas agreed not to identify the officer for her own safety.

"Where [the more violent inmates]used to be in separate containers, now they're all in one bag, and we're just waiting for one to go off. And that sets the rest of them off, and you end up with murders, stabbings,slashing, and officer injurieshigher than ever."

That powder keg is a danger to the inmates, too. Earlier this month a man awaiting trialat OCDCwas beaten into a coma. Three other inmates have been charged with attempted murder.

The female guard said the incident was a tragedy,but not unexpected:"I'm sad to say I'm not surprised, because we were all waiting for it to happen."

'That's when he sucker-punched me'

8 years ago

Duration 0:48

Dave Peever, a correctional officer at the Ottawa-Carleton Detention Centre, describes being attacked by an inmate.

Province promises fix

A spokesperson for Community Safety and Correctional Services Minister Marie-FranceLalonde suggested the rising number of attacks on guards may reflectimprovements in the way the ministry collects data, rather than a drastic increase in violence.

What do we do with these individuals, if not in segregation? We need to place them somewhere.-MonteVieselmeyer, OPSEU

Dirjan Najdovskiacknowledged the challenging conditions facing correctional officers, but said new legislation specificallyBill 6 will deliver a long-term fix.

"New infrastructure, alternative housing and enhanced programming will be introduced so correctional staff have the tools they need to effectively perform their duties one of those tools is appropriate alternatives to segregation,"Najdovskiwrote in a statement to CBC.

But the union representing guards said those"appropriate alternatives" needto be available now, as members are reportingan unprecedented number of injuries.

"What do we do with these individuals, if not in segregation? We need to place them somewhere," said OPSEU representativeMonte Vieselmeyer.

WSIBclaims up, union says

On Feb. 20, 100 correctional officers at the Toronto South Detention Centre and another75 at the Central East Correctional Centre in Lindsay, Ont., walked off the job to protest violence against guards, forcing both institutions into lockdown.

Vieselmeyersaid claims by injured correctional officersto the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) areconcerning.As a member of a provincial task force, he's received a report showing 219 injury claims in 2017.

One of those claims came fromDave Peever, who remains off the job and is being treated for PTSD.

The charges against the man who attacked himwere dropped.

"Theinmates, they can get away with a lot more than they used to in the past, and that contributes to the growing violence and the crisis in corrections," Peeversaid.