Correctional officers assaulted by ‘problematic inmate’ at Penetanguishene jail
Continuous assaults on correctional officers at the Central North Correctional Centre (CNCC) has union officials calling for increased safety measures.
Correctional officers at the Penetanguishene jail were assaulted during two incidents on June 18 and June 19, with one involving a problematic inmate.
“Three correctional officers and a sergeant were kicked and spat at as they were trying to deal with him,” said Richard Dionne, president of OPSEU Local 369.
Three COs and a Sgt assaulted (kicked and spat on) this morning by a continuously assaultive inmate. This is the SIXTH incident involving this same inmate since May 20 .
— CNCC Local 369 (@cncclocal369)
The incident came days after the same inmate bit a correctional officer and a week after he tried to yank an officer into his cell through an open hatch causing injuries to his hand.
“There is just no end with this inmate,” said Dionne. “Unfortunately, he does have some mental-health issues, which seems to be one of our biggest problems at this point. Every time we are dealing with him he is combative and assaultive.”
There have been six incidents involving this inmate in which correctional officers have been assaulted, including the ones on June 11, 13 and 19.
This is what injuries look like when an inmate tries to bring you into his cell through an open hatch because you’ve been told to disengage from non-compliant inmates at their food hatches, because “they pose no threat”.
— CNCC Local 369 (@cncclocal369)
While the one inmate has caused a lot of the recent problems at CNCC, he isn’t the only one assaulting correctional officers.
On June 18, a female officer was injured while dealing with another combative, non-compliant inmate.
“It didn’t escalate, but there was an issue that required extra response,” said Dionne. “It just seems to be never ending.”
Dionne believes part of the blame should be on the recent legislation changes introduced by the Liberals, which has limited the amount of time an inmate can be kept in segregation.
“Assaults on staff seems to have increased drastically since the Liberals introduced new legislative changes,” said Dionne.
He also believes that there needs to be more of a deterrent for assaulting correctional officers in Ontario, including stiffer minimum sentences.
“I have seen some assaults where charges are pursued by the officers and the inmates get time served or a sentence that is minimal,” said Dionne. “There needs to be more of a deterrent.”
Concerns around segregation limits and a lack of minimum sentences for assaulting a correctional officer are two items OPSEU officials plan to discuss with the new provincial Conservative government.