Overdoses in Edmonton remand spur intense search

EDMONTON Edmonton Remand Centre inmates spent the weekend locked in their cells around the clock as staff combed the facility following a rash of overdoses, say two of those incarcerated.

Eight people were treated for apparent overdoses at the remand centre between Friday and Sunday — one of whom later died. Four people have died at the centre since May.

Alberta Justice and Solicitor General said all eight were administered Narcan, a medication that blocks the effects of opioids. However, the ministry would not confirm whether the cases were in fact overdoses, citing privacy laws.

The centre, which houses mostly pre-trial inmates, was locked down for a total of five days while staff searched for contraband. Several agencies are investigating, including Edmonton city police.

Inmate Jeff Kent, 48, described a tense atmosphere as staff worked to tamp down on overdoses. Inmates were told the lockdown was for their protection as staff searched for deadly carfentanil.

Kent is housed in the facility’s boot camp unit as he awaits trial on fraud charges. While he did not see anyone overdose himself, Kent said inmates treated for it were all in Unit 3A — an all-purpose unit in a pod that also houses women, first-time offenders and older male inmates.

Edmonton remand inmates are typically allowed to spend much of their days in common areas, where they can shower, make phone calls and access programs and services. During the lockdown, inmates in Kent’s unit were kept in their cells from 5 p.m. Friday until Monday morning. After that, they were let out twice a day in 15-minute intervals.

Staff later donned “special suits” to search inmates’ cells, he said. “They literally just tore all our stuff apart.”

The lockdown was lifted around 6 p.m. Wednesday.

“I don’t think that the institution was really prepared to deal with that type of magnitude,” he said. “All of a sudden bodies are literally dropping, and they ’re trying to find a way to respond.”

Tim Crowe, another inmate, said correctional officers seemed panicked as they put the facility on lockdown and began to search for contraband.

Crowe, housed in Unit 2B, said no one was able to shower or contact family between Friday and Monday. Meals were eaten in cells.

Crowe works on a cleaning unit, and heard frustrated inmates banging on their cells doors when he went by — further aggravating the guards.

“We talked to the rest of the inmates to try to keep them calmed down, from kicking on their doors,” he said. “Guys get frustrated when they’re locked up in the cell 24 hours a day. It’s a small space — confined.”

How are drugs getting in? Acting Edmonton police Chief Kevin Brezinski on Thursday said the service’s correctional institution investigation unit is probing the overdoses and potential drug trafficking within the institution.

But overdoses in remand centres are nothing new, he added.

“It’s been a problem that we’ve had forever,” he said. “Unfortunately we have people that will smuggle drugs into the institution. When we have people dying, that is a problem.”

Brezinski declined to discuss specifies about how drugs get in, but said police have arrested smugglers at the remand before.

“People are very innovative,” he said.

Last year, with the opioid crisis in full swing, the government installed a body scanner as part of a pilot program to catch drugs on inmates entering the facility. Around five per cent of scans so far have turned up contraband. Visitors, employees and thirdparty contractors at the remand are not required to walk through the scanner.

The Edmonton jail can house 1,952 inmates and is the largest remand centre in the country.