PRISON RIOT OVER 'DRUGS, OVERCROWDING'

An inmate at a maximum security prison in Maple Ridge claims drugs
and overcrowding fueled a riot Saturday when 31 men destroyed a cell block.

They were transferred out of Fraser Regional Correctional Centre that
afternoon after police quelled the disturbance inside.

It was the second riot at the provincial prison on 256th Street in
the past six months. Union staff also blame overcrowding for the
incidents, the first of which happened last August.

B.C. Corrections Branch denied that the weekend disturbance started
over drugs and overcrowding, but rather that three inmates were
agitated over being transferred.

Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows RCMP were called to Fraser Regional at 10
a.m. Saturday after 31 inmates housed in the remand section started
destroying their cell block.

The incident started when three inmates refused to be transferred out
of the block.

As the incident escalated, other inmates started small fires, broke
windows, dislodged sinks, toilets and kicked through doors, almost
breaching a second cell block on the floor.

The RCMP Lower Mainland Emergency Response Team was called to subdue
the inmates.

The Maple Ridge fire department and B.C. Ambulance Service also
attended, as did Coquitlam and Mission RCMP, who helped respond to
other calls for service during the day.

The prisoners were contained after the emergency response team
entered the prison at 1:46 p.m.

Insp. Jim Wakely said once the team took control, the prison was
turned over to Corrections B.C. staff.

"When we were first contacted ... we had received information that
they had caused a considerable amount of damage, they had taken
hostages and had weapons," Wakely said on Saturday outside the prison.

RCMP are still investigating and have to view video footage from the
damaged block before considering charges.

An inmate in the cell block adjacent to the riot contacted The News
afterwards and said it started over "dope," or drugs. He claimed an
inmate who was going to be transferred had the drugs.

"They were all high on Ecstasy and roids [steroids]."

"Nobody wanted him transferred out," said the man, who requested anonymity.

The man said the inmate fought with guards as they took him out of
the unit and the block was locked down as a result.

While outside the block, the inmate kicked through a door.

"They are all air-locked. To kick [the doors] from outside is easy."

Once one door popped open, other inmates kicked through four more but
were stopped by police as they reached his cell block.

The man claims a fire was started in a guard office between the cell blocks.

He blames double-bunking and overcrowding at Fraser Regional
Correctional Centre for the problem.

"The riot started because this joint was built for 254 and there is
more than 430 [inmates]. They haven't had a riot since 1991. If they
don't do something, it's going to keep happening."

Overcrowding at the provincial facility is a complaint echoed by the
B.C. Government Employees Union.

Dean Purdy, chair of the union's correctional and sheriff services
component, blames the "riot" on double-bunking - where two inmate
shared one small cell.

He said on Saturday, the prison which was built in 1990 for 254, had
495 inmates.

When a prison is so overcrowded, inmates are forced to sleep on
floors or sometimes housed in other sections of the facility.

"It was a very violent situation that could have evolved into a
bigger incident had the corrections tactical team or emergency
response team not got involved so quickly," Purdy added.

"When you have more inmates in one particular area of the jail, you
are bound to have more incidents."

The union has seen violence inside prisons across the province
increase since 2002, when several facilities were shut down.

Purdy said staff to inmate ratios used to be 1:20, but are now as
high as 1:60 at some facilities.

At Fraser Regional, one corrections officer is responsible for 40 inmates.

"It makes it harder for officers to do their jobs effectively," Purdy said.

The union wants staff to inmate ratios returned to what the prison
was originally designed for - one correction officer to 20 inmates.

B.C. Corrections is calling Saturday's incident " a disturbance," not
a "riot," and denies that overcrowding fuelled the violence.

Spokesperson Lisa Lapointe said the block where the disturbance
started had 20 cells with 31 inmates.

"We wouldn't call it overcrowded."

Lapointe also dismissed allegations that the disturbance started over drugs.

"It was about three inmates who were going to be transferred to other
centres and they became quite agitated."

She added that the province has a very good internal drug strategy
for its prison system, but could not elaborate on what the strategy
entails for security reasons.

"We are able to ensure that drugs don't come in," Lapointe stressed.

This year, the province announced major additions to both Fraser
Regional and Alouette Correctional Centre for Women in Maple Ridge.

Fraser Regional will expand by 135 cells, to 389 from 254, requiring
an addition to the building.

That will reduce the amount of double bunking in the prison, which is
currently 72 over capacity.

Construction is due to start in February 2009 and be complete by December 2010.

In the meantime, temporary housing will be complete by May that will
house 100 male inmates. That will be in the form of a large tent, as
used in some U.S. prisons.

Alouette Correctional Centre for Women also is about to become the
major women's prison in B.C.

It will grow to 193 cells from 69 by October 2010. The expansion
includes a new lodge-type unit, plus a larger building.