Niagara jail incident peacefully resolved
A short-lived disturbance at the Niagara Detention Centre ended peacefully Wednesday with no injuries or significant property damage, says the provincial ministry of corrections.
The incident, which started around 3:30 p.m., involved about five inmates and was resolved shortly before 5 p.m. says Ministry of Public Safety and Correctional Services spokesman Andrew Morrison.
Niagara Regional Police along with firefighters from the St. Catharines and Thorold fire departments responded to a call of a possible fire at the Uppers Lane jail.
When fire crews arrived, they were not permitted to enter the facility. They staged in the parking lot of the nearby John Michael’s Banquet and Conference hall to wait for the green light to enter the jail.
Shortly before 5 p.m., firefighters cleared the area. Morrison said it appears there may have been no fire.
Although Morrison said he did not yet have precise details about the nature of the incident, he said correctional staff talked to the inmates involved and resolved the situation peacefully. Inmates who were not directly involved were temporarily moved to another area of the jail.
There were no reported injuries as a result of the incident.
An investigation into the cause of the incident is still ongoing, Morrison said.
The jail, which has an official population capacity of 260 people, has been the site of several inmate disturbances and riots over the years.
The most costly happened in 2002 when inmates were unhappy with the burned meatloaf served at meal time. The resulting riot caused $150,000 in damage to the facility.