Meaningful act of destruction at Regina jail

Source calls escape an act of destruction

Jana G. Pruden, The Regina Leader-Post [Saskatchewan]
Published: Friday, December 05, 2008

An incident at the Regina jail is being characterized very differently by a government official and a source within the institution — and has been described as either a meaningless act of destruction by a belligerent inmate or an unsuccessful escape attempt.

A source inside the facility said the incident began at about 8 p.m. on Wednesday, when two inmates in the new building at the Regina Provincial Correctional Centre broke desks in their cell and used the pieces to smash an outer window of the cell leading outside and an interior window leading into the corridor.

The source said staff thwarted the escape after hearing the sound of breaking glass.

“It’s supposed to be bulletproof glass or shatterproof glass, but obviously it’s not because of the substandard materials they used to put into this building,” the source said.

But Corrections and Public Safety spokeswoman Judy Orthner described the scene as little more than the actions of one angry inmate.

“I don’t know how you could ever assume what was going on in the inmate’s mind at the time to suggest this was a pre-meditated breaking of a window to facilitate an escape …,” Orthner said. “It can’t be construed in all cases that because someone has broken something that it suggests an escape attempt.”

The source said the incident was not caught on camera because the security cameras in the area have not been functioning properly.

“They’re going to try and minimize it, obviously, but when you break exterior windows, the purpose to that is to escape,” the person said.

Orthner said the glass in the outer cell windows was chosen based on cost efficiencies, with a conscious decision being made to use tempered glass in the small windows.

The outer cell windows are five inches high and four feet wide, which Orthner said “would preclude anybody trying to escape through a very, very, very narrow window.”

The source disagreed.

“They’re small, but I’ve seen inmates in the past squeeze through vents,” the person said.

But whatever the true intention behind Wednesday’s incident, the fracas is not the first sign of trouble with the new facility, which began housing inmates in September.

Last week, the jail was put into lockdown after a weapon was found made from pieces of cell light fixtures.

Orthner said the lights have tamper-proof screws, which have all been checked and tightened since last week’s discovery. She said the desks used in Wednesday’s incident are standard in correctional institutions around the country, but the way the desks were attached to the walls of the Regina facility may not have been adequate. The desks have now been removed while that issue is being considered, Orthner said.

She said problems can be expected to pop up as the facility becomes operational, and said it would be the same situation with any kind of large construction project with complicated systems and security measures.

But the source said the issues are just part of the new facility’s many flaws.

“They’re saying it’s state of the art and (Corrections, Public Safety and Policing Minister Darryl) Hickie is saying that it’s safe, but it’s not,” the source said.