Brian Herrington says that when he was first detained at the Toronto East Detention Center in September 2020, he had good relations with staff and was active and social when he was given time outside his cell.
Things turned around in January.
He then said that several prisoners had been assigned to minimum, medium and maximum security cells in the prison. Herrington, who faces a number of serious charges, including membership in a criminal organization, was placed under maximum security while awaiting trial.
“Then everything went downhill,” he told CBC News.
Herrington said he went from a few hours a day out of his cell to just two hours a day. He said the same thing had happened to other maximum security prisoners in Toronto East.
“It was a dramatic change for all of us,” he said.
“It’s a shock to our mental health, it was a shock from the day it happened.”
The change is the result of a provincial pilot program known as SAFER, which means “Security Assessment for Risk Assessment”. The Ministry of the Prosecutor General describes it as “a tool for assessing the risk to the security of the prisoner during admission to the provincial detention center and throughout the period of imprisonment, which helps staff to anticipate and mitigate prisoner misconduct and behavior in the provincial penitentiaries. establishments’.
Thunder Bay County Jail is one of the centers involved in SECURITY pilots. (Mark Dusset / CBC)
Many inmates reported problems with the system from the outset, claiming there were frequent blockages while correctional staff abused them and reduced access to programming.
However, the president of the correctional staff union says the program is effective because it allows staff to better manage their resources while allowing inmates from the minimum and middle wards to feel more secure in the facility.
The ministry said SAFER began in the spring of 2021 as a pilot project at Thunder Bay Prison, Thunder Bay Correctional Center and Toronto East.
CBC News spoke to two other maximum security prisoners who wished to remain anonymous for fear of repercussions. Everyone claims that the point system that SAFER uses to classify prisoners seems arbitrary, and examinations to reduce their points do not happen on time. They also claim to have experienced and witnessed violence by staff since the beginning of the program.
“People will behave well and their score will not move or increase, even if they have done nothing to increase it,” said one prisoner.
Lawyer, officer sends letters to the province
Richard Miller, founder of Keep6ix, a non-profit organization that focuses on helping marginalized people navigate the judiciary, says he has heard from more than a dozen inmates and their families since SAFER was launched.
“They complain that they can’t go out in the fresh air, they are not allowed to correspond with their family for visits or phone calls,” he said.
These points were also outlined in a letter he sent to Ontario Attorney General Sylvia Jones, who has now been replaced by Michael Kerzner.
“There are countless allegations that black prisoners have been subjected to racial insults and degrading language. They were told to return to “their cage” and told that it was “meal time”. “This language is usually used in the zoo, not against people in the detention center,” Miller’s letter said.
Miller called SAFER “segregation repackaged” and urged the province to end it.
“The rights and abuse of these offenders make it seem that the lives of black offenders don’t matter in the judiciary,” Miller said this week.
A Toronto East Correctional Officer (CO), who asked not to be named for fear of losing his job, agreed with many of the points in Miller’s letter, adding that they had witnessed COs deliberately trying to block maximum units.
“As soon as certain officers start their day, they say, ‘I’m looking for something to make sure they’re locked up,'” the officer said.
“We don’t seem to have these problems in other units.”
The CO also says that prisoners who want their SAFER assessments are not provided with them and do not have access to the programs to which they are entitled in the detention center.
The CO is also concerned about the racist language used against prisoners and inconsistencies in the rules of the pilot program.
“My biggest concern is mental health and quarrels. I feel that someone will be seriously injured or lose their life,” the policeman said.
Meet the ministry, union leader of CO
In a statement to CBC News, the Attorney General’s Office said it “plans to review the pilots’ performance, once completed, for potential expansion and continues to look for tools and resources that can be used in Ontario correctional facilities to the first line shall ensure that staff and prisoners in the provincial detention center are safe and secure. “
The statement said the ministry could not comment on individual cases, but noted that prisoners were evaluated regularly to determine what type of security range they were placed in.
The ministry also says all correctional officers must abide by the Ontario Correctional Services Code of Conduct and Professionalism, which states that all officers must maintain a workplace that is fair, inclusive, and free from all forms of discrimination and harassment.
Jason Muszynski, president of OPSEU Local 582, says each new program has growing pain. He says that at the beginning of the SAFER program, the maximum number of prisoners admitted that they had tried to sabotage it – a statement with which one of the prisoners agreed.
“Medium and minimum prisoners largely accept it; they like it because they no longer have to live with [maximum unit] prisoners, “Mushinski said.
“These are the boys who cause most of the problems where harassment and assaults occur.”
The maximum security inmates told CBC News that the scoring system that SAFER uses seems arbitrary, and screenings to reduce their points do not happen on time. They also claim to have survived and witnessed staff violence. (Shutterstock)
He says that the minimum and average units are generally problem-free, and the maximum units continue to be a challenge.
SAFER, he says, “it’s good for staff because you have better information about predicting where there might be problems.”
Muszynski says he is unfamiliar with staff aimed at maximizing prisoners, or with allegations of racist behavior.
As for the SAFER rating system, he says it is fair and is determined by a computer-generated algorithm that estimates about 100 factors such as age, previous behavior of the prisoner and the seriousness of the charges facing the prisoner.
“It goes back 10 years in their institutional history. So, as in the federal system, you can be threatened with heinous crimes, but if your behavior is good, you can reduce yourself to minimal security. It’s modeled in much the same way. “
Muszynski says wards are closed only if there is a security problem and that prisoners’ claims that they have not been released for days or weeks are “completely untrue.”
He also says the demographics in Toronto East are diverse and reflect the surrounding community, and race has nothing to do with where prisoners are placed in the system.
Herrington, meanwhile, says she continues to worry about the mental and physical health of prisoners if the program continues.
“We all suffer. It’s nothing but mental oppression from the day it started.”
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