Why is violence against officers in prisons increasing?

Attacks on correctional officers at the Quebec Detention Center during the holidays are not isolated cases. Other attacks have recently taken place in Sorel and Bordeaux and have increased in recent years in the province’s prisons. How can we explain such an increase in violence against prison staff?

Experts speak bluntly about the lack of resources to deal with an increasingly complex prison population.

We are not putting in the funds, maintains Pierre Tabah, lawyer specializing in prison law. When you face criminal organizations that have the means, you must equip yourself with the means […]you have to adapt. I think correctional services in recent years, as a result of the pandemic, have been under-resourced.

According to Mathieu Lavoie, national president of the Union of Peace Officers in Correctional Services of Quebec, there is currently a shortage of 500 officers in the province’s prison network, which has 17 establishments.

We have approximately 10% of our positions that are vacant and a little more than 10% of people who are absent. So, there is a 20% shortage of staff across the entire correctional network.indicates Mr. Lavoie.

In return, the prison population in all of Quebec is around 120%, he specifies.

More dangerous inmates

Overcrowding in Quebec prisons does not alone explain the increase in the number of cases of threats to the safety of correctional officers. The type of inmates has a lot to do with it.

The prison population has increased, explains Mr. Lavoie. Street gangs are more and more present inside, more and more violent, and want to take control to continue their trafficking and all of their criminal activities. We see the increase in violence. We also see it, at the same time, with the increase in the number of intrusions by drone, which are becoming a daily occurrence in certain establishments.

Between 2018 and 2023, more than 270 assaults were perpetrated against correctional officers in Quebec, according to the Union of Peace Officers in Correctional Services.

Not only do the recent attacks in Quebec, Sorel and Bordeaux add to the statistics, they also demonstrate the worsening dangers that await officers in their work environment.

We are talking about major attacks, attacks which can cause permanent or serious injuriessaid Mr. Lavoie.

This is not something that surprises us when we see the size of the prison population and the tensions inside the walls, which we have seen increase year after year for four or five years. It affects all staff and correctional officers in all detention facilities.

More frequent periods of seclusion

The lack of staff and resources has had consequences on the way prisons are managed in Quebec, especially since the pandemic, believes Pierre Tabah.

They decided to manage by putting the inmates in solitary confinement. Due to lack of staff, detainees are locked up more often [et] longer in their cell. So, it makes the inmates’ temperament much more difficultexplains this lawyer specializing in prison law.

And when we manage a system of prisoners by keeping them in prison for longer, by reducing the portions of food given, by reducing the services […]well, there is a reaction from the inmates.

It just takes one who is more unhappy than the others, and then it’s like wildfire. When it starts, it’s hard to stop.

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Mathieu Lavoie believes that there is improvements to be made to the training of officers to deal with the prison populationwhich has more street gang members, repeat offenders and people struggling with mental health problems.

In addition to improving training, Me Tabah believes that significant changes must be made throughout the network to improve staff safety.

Some facilities are outdated and need renovations and more budget. There are systems that need to be put in place for protection against drones […]. Lots of things can be done administratively… But it takes the means.

The increase in violence inside prisons is not only observable in Quebec. In his 2023-2024 report on the situation in the country’s penitentiaries, the Correctional Investigator of Canada reported 176 assaults against correctional officers in the six maximum security establishments.

With information from Gabrielle Proulx