Definition: a demand for space in prisons exceeds the planned capacity
Statistics
Costs taxpayers 3 billion dollars a year for correctional services, including policing its approx $10 million
There are 35,000 persons locked up in Canadian jails, giving Canada one of the highest incarceration rates among western industrialised countries
Cost of incarcerating a Federal female prisoner (2004/5): $150,000-$250,000 per prisoner/per year
It costs $88,000 a year to keep a male in federal prisons, but only $55,000 to keep the same person in a provincial jail
The Cost of incarcerating a provincial prisoner (2004/5) $141.78: per prisoner/per day. The cost of alternatives such as probation, bail supervision and community supervision range from $5-$25/day.
The percentage of prisoners double-bunked is 17.4 per cent nationally in Canada. Overcrowding is the biggest problem in the Prairies, where 26 per cent of inmates are now double-bunked. 51% of those inmates sharing a single cell felt threatened by their cellmate.
Impact and effects:
Incarcerated Person: can cause psychological damage, when more prisoners are crammed into smaller areas. Prisoners become frustrated and angry when they do not receive their fare share of resources in their prison. it can cause anti-social behaviour, stress, anxiety and suffer panic attacks that can lead to more violence
Family: They might lose their privileges due to the acting out from the added stress and anxiety, which could mean they can't see their family, which in turn affects their spouses and children
When they are released back into society: did not receive sufficient rehabilitation or drug therapy during incarceration, they will not be ready to re-enter the community and could quickly reoffend. Prisoners may leave angry and frustrated, which can lead to further violence or drug usage
Staff: Their working lives are made much more stressful because of aggressive inmates. Prison guards are switching to become police officers because the pay is better and it is safer
Legislation:
Correction and Conditional Release Regulations: Physical Conditions, Section 83
(1) “The service shall, to ensure a safe and healthful penitentiary environment... that every penitentiary in inspected regularly by the persons responsible for enforcing those laws”
(2) The service shall take all reasonable steps to ensure the safety of every inmate and that every inmate is
a) Adequately clothed and fed;
b) Provided with adequate bedding;
c) Provided with toilet articles and all other articles necessary for personal health and cleanliness; and
d) Given the opportunity to exercise for at least one hour every day outdoors, weather permitting, or indoors where the weather does not permit exercising outdoors
Organisation:
Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services The Ministry is committed to ensuring that Ontario's communities are supported and protected by law enforcement and public safety systems that are safe, secure, effective, efficient and accountable.
The ministry's responsibilities:
Establishes, maintains, operates and monitors Ontario's adult correctional institutions and probation and parole offices
Has jurisdiction over adult offenders under parole supervision, as granted by the Ontario Parole Board, and
Provides programs and facilities designed to assist in offender rehabilitation.
Contact information:
Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services
18th Floor
25 Grosvenor Street Toronto, ON 1-866-517-0571
Agency
Elgin Middlesex Detention Center
Contact Info:
Elgin-Middlesex Detention Centre
Provincial Correctional Facilities, Institutions and
Programs Elgin-Middlesex Detention Centre
711 Exeter Rd, London, ON N6E 1L3
Tele: 519-686-1922
Inmate on inmate assaults by year at Elgin Middlesex: Detention center
2012: 278
2011: 172
2010: 132
2009: 158
2008: 66
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