The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, October 22.1997 - AS _ The prison shuffle Expensive sys By DAVID TAYLOR’ PRISONERS SAY it’s unfair. Sheriffs say it’s potentially un- safe, And police say they simply aren’! equipped for the job. It all adds up to one confusing and expensive system of hold- ing prisoners awaiting trial in the northwest. _The system currently shuffles prisoners halfway across the province, then back again for a single court date — racking up thousands of dollars in fuel and overtime costs. But unfortunately, with no plans to build a secure remand facility here in the near future, it looks like the problems will per- sist. - Right now, the only jail in the area that holds prisoners on remand, the term for those waiting for trial or sentencing, is the Ter- race Community Correctional Centre on Keith Ave. But that facility is minimun- *n my opinion this is not a proper facility for holding long-term prisoners. We don’t have the luxury of hav- ing the resources necessary for prisoners on longer stays’? — Inspector Steve Leach security and only takes about five remand prisoners at a time —— none of whom. can be considered security risks or have violent back- grounds. “We don’t take anyone - dangerous, just in case they decide to climb over the fence,’’ explains head correctional officer Dieter Graner, And that means sheriffs have to constantly shuttle prisoners back and forth between Prince Rupert, Terrace, and the regional remand cenire in Prince George. The result is a prison version of musical chairs, where prisoners are shuffled’ from jail to jail, often being held in RCMP holding cells overnighton'the way. 2P: “Tt takes a’prisoner remanded in Prince George about a week 'to do one single court appearance in Ter- race,” says Terrace senior Sheriff Keith Peterson. ‘‘They have to be ‘held overnight in Smithers and Ter- race in city cells. It takes a long time.’’ ‘In fact, prisoners waiting to be tried in the northwest can end up spending weeks in city cells be- cause court dates are often just four or. five days apart. And since a transfer to and from Prince George takes a week, the prisoners wind up staying in Tertace. That happened most recently with Wilfred Kilgren, accused killer of Terrace resident Daniel Fagan. Kil- gren ended up living in RCMP lock-up here for three weeks. And that’s not what the cells are designed for. “In my opinion this is not a proper facility for holding long- term prisoners,’’ says Inspector. Steve Leach of the Terrace detach- ment, ‘‘We don’t have the luxury of having the resources necessary for prisoners on longer stays."’ i 3 foe SENIOR TERRACE Sheriff Keith Peterson stands autside one of the vehicles used for prisoner transfer around the northwest. The system is expensive and potentially dangerous, since lone Sheriffs are often required to travel great distances with several prisoners. Unfortunately, there are no plans to build a secure remand centre in the northwest at this time. tem of moving prisoners questioned For example, the RCMP lock-up doesn’t have a kitchen or any ex- ercise areas, indoor or outdoor. Prisoners — often not yet con- victed of a crime — are held in the cells full-time. And Keith Peterson points out that is simply not a healthy situa- tion for prisoners who are already having difficulties. “‘What if someone gets sick or fakes getting sick? You have just two options. You can keep driving and make the prisoner wait, or you can call the nearest RCMP and have them meet you. You’re not about to open the back by yourself”? —Sheriff Keith Peterson ‘Many of the people we have in custody ate not the most stable to begin with,’’ he says. ‘‘Sitting in the lock-up for extended periods of time just makes things worse, Some of these people need attention — .they need medication and counsell- ing. They should be at a place with an infirmary.’’ The situation is a bigger headache in Prince Rupert, where the city's Ries a4 oer aOR Arnie ele COE VA ae Eg : $ me THE TERRACE Community Correctional Centre on Keith Ave. will hold about five prisoners awaiting tri- al. But none of those prisoners can be considered a security risk. About 50 per cent of prisoners get smal] jail can quickly fill up. And that means the prisoners are shuffled to Terrace to sit in the city cells here. That also means sheriffs are com- monly called out on days off to make prisoner transfers. “There's a lot of pressure on sheriffs to get Rupert prisoners out of Rupert to Terzace,’’ says Peter- son. ‘That bas manifested itself in lots of overtime and weekend trans- fers.”’ Ironically, having a small minimum-security remand facility in Terrace adds to the problem be- cause eligible prisoners from Prince Rupert are often sent here. That means more work for sheriffs and fewer beds for local inmates. “About 50 per cent of the prisoners get turned away (from the Terrace Correctional Centre},”” says Peterson. ‘‘It’s a pain, but their (corrections) hands are tied. They have to accommodate Rupert, Smithers, Kitimat and Terrace with a half-dozen beds.’’ Safety is another potential prob- lem since deputy sheriffs often have only their prisoners to keep them company on the long drives between Prince Rupert and Prince George. “Ty's not unusual for one deputy sheriff to drive alone with four or five prisoners in the back," Peter- turned down for that reason. Those considered too risky have to travel to Prince George. son says. ‘“They’re pretty secure, But if they start kicking things around or causing a ruckus, then you’ve only got one person to deal with it”’ _ ‘About 50 per cent of the prisoners get turned away (from the Terrace Correc- tional Centre). It’s a pain, but their (Corrections’) hands are tied. They have to accommodate Rupert, Smithers, Kitimat and Ter- race with a half-dozen beds.”’ Peterson points out that the dis- tances between stops in the north- west are great and along some very lonely stretches of road. One of the longest stretches of uninterrupted travel is between Ter- race and Smithers. It’s a two and a half hour drive where almost any- thing can happen. ‘What if someone gets sick or fakes getting sick?’’ Peterson says. *"You have just two options. You can keep driving and make the prisoner wait, or you can call the nearest RCMP and have them meet you. You’re not about to open the back by yourself.”’ The cost of the transfers is anoth- er issue, Taking prisoners back and forth halfway across the province isn’t cheap. ‘T's a big cost ta mave people around all the time too,’’ says In- spector Leach. '‘That really adds up.”’ But building a secure remand centre in the northwest wouldn’t be cheap either. The current correc- tional ceatre in Terrace would need a major addition and extra security, or an entirely new facility would have to be built And right now, there are no plans for anything to change in the near future. “Nothing will be coming to a head any time soon,'’ says Kate Thompson of the attorney general’s ministry. ‘The priority right now is justice reform and restorative jus- tice.” Patty Walker, who heads up the Terrace Correctional Centre, also says there aren’t any plans for a secure remand centre in the north- west, But she says the area could use one. “Based on sheer numbers, [ would have to say yes,’” she says. And Keith Peterson says when Attomey General Ujjal Dosanjh was here last month, the subject wasn't brought up. There wasn't any talk about correctional facilities,’ he says, “As far as I know, there are no plans for any further upgrades. But it would certainly be a viable solu- tion to the problem.” gee einer CORRESPONDENCE FOR THE TERRACE STANDARD The Mail Bag Recall is a witch hunt Dear Sir: ] have never voted for ihe NDP, nor can I ever see myself doing so. That said, I do believe in the democratic process, however flawed, and I accept the right of the NDP to form a government and individual NDP members to represent ridings as MLAs in British Columbia. In the Jast election, I worked for an opposing candi- date to Helmut Giesbrecht, and I was very disappointed when that candidate failed to be elected to office. I have been on the losing side before, and I have been on the winning side as well. Losing isn’t nice, but you regroup, and get ready for the next fight. 1 know that Helmut does not appear to be very tolerant of opposing views, and that he has not had a very strong impact in Victoria. We knew that during his last term, and failed to communicate that to the voters during the last election. It seems to me that lo ask for his recall based on something that he was elected to do (a second time), is contrary to the dema- cratic process and |s not at all the intent of the recall legislation. Has he broken any laws or acted unethicaily? If so let him be responsible, otherwise let him do the best job he can. We should ask the opposition and those working so diligently for the recall what they hope to accomplish. We will have a period of just less than a year where we will have no representation at all if they are successful (including the time that petition is being circulated when Helmut will be forced to defend himself, once again). After that period of time, we will have another election wkere the ‘Right’ will split the vote, and the NDP will once again hold office in this riding. This cause is a waste of taxpayers dollars and politi- house in order first, gear up for the next election and put forward a solid opposition to the NDP machine (the only one intact after the Socred debacle). Why are we venting all this political energy for an obscure chance at gaining power through the back door? We should be pressuring and assisting our Official Opposition to ex- pose the NDP goverament for what it is, instead of wasting our time promoting this movement. I consider the Helmut Giesbrecht recall initiative a witch hunt and an affront to the democratic process. I urge all citizens that believe in fair play and understand the intent of the recall legislation to join me, and refuse to support this movement. Bruce Martindale, Terrace, 1.C. A good samaritan Dear Sir: On behalf of Ivy Lincoln and family we thank the person who stopped and helped take my younger brother to the hospital. If it were not for this mystery man, my brother would have died from hypothermia if we wailed anyJonger for-help,togrriverss: 'h Yy My mother, siblings and J express our thanks:to this man on the night of Oct. 3 and to Dr. Hoy and the nurse on duly that night. It’s nice to know there are still good samaritans in Terrace. Monica Lincoln Terrace, B.C. Hockey night in Terrace Dear Sin I’m disappointed in the way a situation was created and handled at a hockey game Oct. 10, Some friends of mine were harassed by someone whom we belicve to be a parent of a member of the Prince Rupert team. Due to the amount of people who came to watch the game there were no seats left behind the Terrace team, so my friend and ] sat in the available seats, which hap- pened to be behind the Prince Rupert tcam. Friends of mine came and sat in front of me and were promptly asked by a lady from Rupert to move a row up or move to a completely different spot. My friends and J questioned her as to why, and she said that she didn’t want us verbally assaulting the Rupert players. One of my friends continued to question why, and while he was doing so, a member of the Prince Rupert team tried to jump out of the players box and physical- ly attack this individual, They all moved. Shortly after, another friend of ours came to join us, not knowing anything about the previous goings on. Terrace scored, all their fans, including us, were on our feet cheering. While we were cheering, the Prince Rupert team was trying to squirt us with water. We were not impressed. After everyone was seated, the lady from Prince Rupert came over and told the individual who had just recently joined us to leave. He refused, like any person who had done nothing wrong would have done. Next a lady, whom we all believe to be associated with the Terrace Minor Hockey Association told this same individual to leave, Once again be refused, and a man whose son plays for the Terrace team came over and tried to physically remove the individual, bul when told to let go he did so. Finally, the police were asked {o come and remove the innocent individual. J think the policeman thought the whole thing to be a joke, which resulted in the individual not being required to leave. When we questioned the lady from the TMHA as to why a Prince Rupert hockey parent could have the right and authority to kick us out of our own arena, her response was to the effect of “this is not your arena. The TMHA rents this arena.”’ We were under the impression thal the arena was a community facility. Were we misled? Wasn't hockey intended to be a spectator sport? With this as just an example ta how spectators are treated, how can they expect community support for a second sheet of ice? , Bambi Healey, Terrace, B.C. The Terrace Standard welcomes lIet- ters to the editor. Our mailing address is 3210 Clinton St, Terrace, B.C. V8G 5R2. Our fax number Is 250-638-8432 and our e-mall address is standard@kermode.net cal energy. We (opponents of the NDP) should put our. ~~ me ae et ™ eri mamma eT