PENITENTIARY BOSSES CLOSE PRISON PROBE

Kingston Penitentiary has shut down an internal investigation that
saw eight guards fired amid allegations of corruption.

The provincial attorney general's office, though, has not yet decided
if criminal charges will be laid against the correctional officers,
who the prison warden says were smuggling drugs and alcohol into the
prison.

Some of the guards were granting favours to inmates, like tipping
them off before a cell search and letting them out of their cells
after hours. Their infractions were a serious breach of the prison's
code of conduct, if not the law, the warden says.

"Not all staff that have been discharged were involved in all these
activities, but in all cases there were serious violations of
professional standards," said Warden Monty Bourke in an interview at
Kingston Penitentiary Friday.

Covert Investigation

A covert RCMP investigation was launched by Bourke in March, 1998,
three months after he arrived at the maximum-security prison.

The three-year probe left staff devastated, ashamed and afraid, said
Bourke, who is now implementing a large-scale recovery program.

"There are some raw cords among the staff. We have some healing to
do," Bourke said yesterday.

The prison has undergone a "general degradation" of compliance with
law and policy over the years, Bourke said.

In a frank hour-long interview yesterday, Bourke acknowledged the
institution has a long way to go, but said excising the bad apples
among guards is a start, as are efforts to work co-operatively with
inmates, even in the wake of disruptive events such as last week's
uprising.

Internal corruption and the resulting investigation have aggravated
problems that brew inside high-security institutions in cycles,
Bourke said.

Tighter Controls

Several incidents of violence, including the stabbing of an officer
in December, led to increasingly tighter controls.

Inmates fought back last Tuesday by refusing to leave the exercise
yard, trashing bleachers and burning lumber until Bourke agreed to
listen to their demands.

Instead of implementing even stiffer measures, Bourke set up three
committees comprised of staff, inmates and managers to examine the
complaints and come up with solutions.

Recent media reports have painted a grim picture of a prison out of
control, awash in drugs and violence.

But during a remarkably unrestricted 41/2-hour tour yesterday, three
Whig-Standard reporters and a photographer were given unprecedented
access to the prison and could find no evidence to support that claim.

The prison yard, where 112 inmates rioted a week ago, shows no apparent damage.

The key issue in the disturbance was the number of prisoners allowed
out of their cells in the evening.

At the time, each range was limited to having seven inmates of the 34
to 36 on each range free at one time. Rioters demanded that all
inmates be allowed to roam the range.

The agreement between rioters and Bourke increased the policy to 10 inmates.

Though the prison's inmate committee is pleased with the small
victory, members are frustrated with the measures they were forced to
take to effect change, they said.

Committee member Jacques Nadeau helped negotiate the resolution with
Bourke. He told The Whig-Standard rioting should be a last resort.

"Why do we need to do that? There's a better way," said Nadeau, who
is serving a 10-year sentence for robbery.

Nadeau, 25, said he understood why the restriction was in place -
three separate assaults on guards in the past year - but felt the
general population had learned its lesson.

"We understand institutions have to enforce rules, but why can't we
get back to normal?" he asked.

"When you're out on the street, if one person in the community messes
up, you don't punish the whole group.

"That's what's happening in here."

But Bourke remains confident about the limited range policy.

"The assaults on staff are down, there is less contraband, and
assault on inmates is down," Bourke said.

"Is there a connection between those decreases, the dismissal of the
corrections officers, and the limited range policy?

"I think so."

Inmates' demands include more and better food, less severe
disciplinary measures, better access to common social areas and
better recreation facilities.

Bourke and the inmate committee have agreed to update The
Whig-Standard as they work toward a resolution.