Correctional facilities face challenges when rival gang members behind bars

REGINA On the streets, tensions between rival gangs or factions within the same gang can lead to violence and criminal charges.

Those problems don’t end when gang members come into custody, meaning those tasked with housing them have their work cut out.

“It is a jigsaw puzzle in how you address it,” said Drew Wilby, spokesman for the Ministry of Justice. “In a correctional facility, obviously you’re trying to ensure the safety and security of everybody there, the staff and the inmates and the facility. And in order to do that, there’s a variety of things that you need to take into consideration. But one of the primary concerns is gang affiliation.”

Gangs have been tied to a variety of crimes in the province, from robberies and drug crimes to home invasions and homicides. A number of criminal organizations and street gangs operate within the province, and it’s the job of police to try to figure out who’s who and who did what, as well as to try to curb their illegal activities.

“But once (gang members) are in the facilities, some of them don’t get along and we need to protect them from each other,” Wilby said.

The process starts at intake, when an interview with the inmate and information provided by police help staff determine whether the inmate has any gang affiliation and, if so, with whom. If the inmate has been to jail before, a file will also contain that kind of information.

Once the individual’s gang — what the Ministry of Justice calls a “security threat group” — is determined, staff can decide where the inmate should be placed.

Wilby noted the abundance of gang members in the province means that process can be tricky. Ranges exist where members of a particular gang are placed together, barring security issues that might crop up between them, and inmates are constantly monitored.

Wilby said provincial jails in Saskatchewan each have at least one embedded security intelligence officer, whose job it is to stay on top of issues surrounding security threat groups. Those officers are expected to keep tabs on what’s going on in the facility to enable staff to respond to issues as they arise — responses that can include isolating a gang member from others in the group or moving that person to another facility.

Wilby pointed out that intelligence officers are in constant contact with police for information-sharing, and they attend discussions on a larger scale both within and outside the province to stay on top of what’s going on with organized crime. Provincial correctional centres also exchange information with the federal Correctional Service Canada (CSC).

Given that gang units can come with increased levels of security, program delivery can become an issue, but Wilby said programming can be provided right on units rather than sending inmates to dedicated program space.

“Our staff have become very ingenuitive in delivering the programming and dealing with these populations under what are often very difficult circumstances,” he said.

Despite the efforts of staff, violence can and does occur between gang members from time to time. Wilby said there are instances where members of one gang looking to exert control will “show their muscle” and act out violently.

“But our staff are very good at trying to alleviate that pressure and address those issues before they raise themselves in that form,” he said.

Meanwhile, a CSC spokesperson said federal prisons have strategies to deal with what was described as the “increasingly complex and diverse” nature of the federal inmate population, including security threat groups.