'HUG-A-THUG' BELIEF TO BLAME: GUARD

A veteran prison guard says management's "hug-a-thug" mentality is
responsible for much of the gang problem in federal prisons. The
guard, who walks the beat at the Joyceville Institution near Kingston
and did not want to be identified, also said imported drugs are a big
problem in jails, for which he also blamed management.

The guard said management's attitude also has a tendency to create a
hateful atmosphere among his colleagues.

"It's this idea to console (prisoners) and do everything you can to
make them happy and find them work," he said. "I don't believe in the
idea of strong-arming them and beating the snot out of them, but I'll
be damned if I'm going to go around and kiss their ass to get them to
do something. It's crazy."

At Joyceville, ethnic gangs hold the balance of power.

The guard said Muslims hold most of the power, but Jamaican and Asian
prisoners are equally responsible for the drug trade, adding
aboriginal prisoners are mostly responsible for trafficking alcohol.

Black Market

He said the Muslim prison population controls the "canteen," where
cons can purchase food, but also order cigarettes and illegal drugs.

"They run (the canteen), so they can run the black market out of
there," he said.

The guard said the drug problem doesn't stem from a lack of staff, but
rather is linked to management's decision to not properly train guards
to use the technology already in place that's supposed to stop
narcotics from being brought in.

Ion scanners, worth about $60,000, are used to identify the levels of
different types of drugs and whether a visitor has come in contact
with a narcotic.

If specific levels of drugs are spotted by the scanner, it could give
a guard reason to believe the visitor may be bringing illegal drugs
onto prison property.

"The tools are there, but they don't train the people to operate it,"
the guard said. "They've got this machine sitting there, but there are
few of us capable of operating the damn thing."

After several visits, the friends and family of cons get to know the
routine and are able to get around security measures. "You get the
same visitors all the time and they know who can operate (the ion
scanners) and who can't," he said.