Province’s jail populations decline

Down 35 per cent since start of COVID-19, according to Alberta Corrections figures

EDMONTON The number of people locked up in Alberta jails has declined almost 35 per cent since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, following calls to reduce correctional populations to prevent contagion.

As of March 1, there were 3,534 people in provincial jails and remand centres, according to statistics obtained by Postmedia via a freedom of information request.

By April 24, the number of prisoners was down to 2,310, a decline of 1,224 people.

The majority of the decrease came in remand centres, where people who have been denied bail are held prior to trial.

Inmate populations have fallen across Canada since the start of the pandemic.

An analysis by Vice in early May found inmate counts were down about 15 per cent nationally.

Alberta had not released any figures prior to Postmedia’s request.

Since the start of the pandemic, criminal justice organizations across Canada have called for the release of non-violent inmates, arguing crowded correctional institutions are ideal Petri dishes for COVID-19.

In late March, the Alberta Criminal Trial Lawyers’ Association and the Alberta Prison Justice Society (APJS) called for action in Alberta, saying an outbreak inside a jail would be “catastrophic.”

Alberta operates eight adult lockups and two youth facilities, which hold pretrial inmates and people sentenced to two years or less.

So far, the province has had just two COVID -19 cases in jail, both in the Calgary Remand Centre.

While Alberta has largely been spared, other jurisdictions haven’t been so lucky. As of May 29, there were 789 coronavirus cases linked to correctional facilities across Canada, according to University of Ottawa Prof. Justin Piché. Of those, 576 were prisoners — the majority in the federal prison system — while 213 were staff or contractors.

Amanda Hart-dowhun, a defence lawyer and APJS president, said there seems to be less willingness to lock people up during COVID-19, especially in remand.

Fifty-five per cent of Alberta’s decrease in inmate populations came from the four remand institutions — including the Edmonton Remand Centre, which saw a drop to 1,066 prisoners from 1,463.

Hart-dowhun said given the added risk, defence counsel are arguing more forcefully for bail, while Crown prosecutors are more flexible in consenting to release. The Alberta Crown Attorneys’ Association declined to comment.

“Those stats to me are positive,” Hart-dowhun said. “We’ve been pretty clear from early on that keeping people in remand should always be a measure of last resort. And certainly with the problems with inmates not being able to properly socially distance with COVID-19, it is really important to even further reduce the number of people being held in remand.

“It’s good to see the courts and Crown prosecutors are taking that seriously,” she added.

Dr. Sandra Bucerius, director of the University of Alberta Prison Project, said there are many cases in which people awaiting trials can do so safely in the community instead of remand.

“I would strongly propose, going into the future, that they keep that up and not just decarcerate due to COVID,” she said.

The provincial government has played a limited role in the decrease. In April, the justice ministry said it had released all 32 offenders locked up for failing to pay fines, while allowing offenders serving a weekend jail sentence to run out their time on house arrest.

A briefing memo prepared early in the pandemic argued Alberta was “one of the most prepared jurisdictions in the country” for a COVID outbreak because its jails were at just 62 per cent capacity.

Dan Laville, a spokesperson for the Alberta Justice, said prison populations vary “due to a variety of factors external of government.”

“It would be difficult to speculate as to why there may be increases or decreases at any given time,” he said in an email.

Keith Spencer, a retired U of A criminology professor, said there aren’t many precedents for such a drop in incarceration in Alberta.

As for the impact on crime, he said that remains to be seen. He added: “You’re looking at tremendous cost savings if you can reduce the (inmate) population by several hundred.”

Alberta’s youth corrections population, meanwhile, decreased to 54 inmates from 71 between March 1 and April 24.