Guards lock down jail over attacks by inmates

EDMONTON The union that represents Alberta correctional officers says guards have locked down the Edmonton Remand Centre due to a growing number of violent attacks on staff.

“There have been a number of violent and unprovoked assaults on officers by inmates which has led to officers being knocked unconscious, having to go to hospital,” Guy Smith, president of the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees, said Friday.

“There seems to be a culture building among the inmate population that it is almost open season on correctional officers. They are feeling very vulnerable and unsafe.”

There seems to be a culture building among the inmate population that it is almost open season on correctional officers.

Smith said there have been eight assaults in the last 10 days.

He said union officials are meeting with government managers about the assaults. Guards say they don’t want to lift the lockdown until their conditions are met.

A government website says the Edmonton Remand Centre is the largest, most technologically advanced remand facility in Canada and can house about 2,000 inmates. The union said about 800 correctional officers work at the jail, with about 150 guards on duty at any one time.

Last month, the union called for better safety measures to protect guards after officers were attacked at the Edmonton and Calgary remand centres.

Smith said not much has been done since the union raised its concerns. “We are demanding direct action from the employer to put measures in place to make the work site safer,” he said.