SIX PRISON VISITORS ARRESTED

Joyceville 'Completely In Chaos': Official

Six visitors to a federal prison in Kingston were arrested and drugs
worth $30,000 seized, the latest in a string of incidents that have
turned the penitentiary into a powder keg.

On Saturday, during a family social day at Joyceville Institution,
staff intercepted 300 grams of marijuana, tobacco and drug
paraphernalia, according to Corrections Canada.

Five visitors were charged with possession of drugs for the purpose
of trafficking and one person was charged with possession. More
charges are expected.

As a result of the seizure and the unusual arrest of half a dozen
people in one incident, the warden ordered the more than 400 inmates
at the medium-security facility locked in their cells to allow staff
to scour the institution. Visits are cancelled.

The prison-wide search turned up $3,000 worth of heroin, another 24
grams of marijuana and other contraband, including one homemade weapon.

The Whig-Standard learned that Joyceville has been racked by
violence, fuelled by booze and drugs, for roughly six weeks.

Since August, there have been three assaults on staff and two
incidents of death threats against staff. More than 60 internal
charges were laid against convicts for verbal aggression and
disrespectful conduct and staff found 200 litres of homemade alcohol,
nine homemade weapons and there were six inmate altercations.

Since May, staff have found more than 50 homemade weapons.

Assistant warden Lorrie Oddie confirmed that there have been
incidents but she could not provide statistics.

"We have had seizures of brew, there have been weapons found as
well," she said.

Oddie said there have not been any incidents recently in which staff
suffered serious injury as a result of assaults by inmates.

Internal reports obtained by the Whig show that the number of serious
incidents in every cat-e gory at the prison have increased this year
over last year, including assaults on staff, inmate fights and
disciplinary problems.

There have been 14 threats against staff so far this year, compared
to four last year.

Jason Godin, a senior official in the union representing correctional
officers, said Joyceville is "completely in chaos."

"The drugs are rampant," he said. "It's the population it has now. It
has the highest ratio of gang members in Ontario."

Senior corrections officials have been saying publicly for the past
several years that the system is struggling to cope with a gang problem.

"We're seeing folks that are serving sentences (for crimes) that are
much more violent than they ever were in the past," senior
Corrections official Chris Price told Ontario police chiefs at a
presentation in Kingston this summer.

Price said gangs are a big part of the problem.

Information obtained by the newspaper shows that more than 10% of
inmates at Joyceville are identified as having gang ties, including a
dozen motorcycle gang members and 30 street gang members.

Godin said the gang members are ruthless and more violent than many
other inmates.

"Seizures (of contraband) at Joyceville are way up and I think that
can be attributed to the population we've got there, the young,
gang-affiliated, more violent inmates," he said.

The problems will only get worse, he warned, because of a ballooning
prison population at a time when managers are trying to cut security
positions at Joyceville to save money.

He said Joyceville has particular problems because it's one of the
few medium-security prisons without open-concept style cellblocks
being built across the country, so the most dangerous inmates are
being shipped there.

Joyceville is a decaying, 50- year-old prison.

"That population is extremely violent and we're trying to manage them
in an aging facility," Godin said.

As a result of the problems, there have been several recent incidents
of staff refusing to perform work, citing health and safety concerns.

It's uncertain when the lock-down will be lifted, Oddie said.