Bowden Institution corrections officers oppose a new needle exchange program they fear will put officers, volunteers and visitors at risk.
About 100 corrections officers and several dozen local residents gathered in Innisfail on Monday to draw attention to what officers feel is a flawed needle exchange program officially introduced at Bowden Institution this week.
Jeremey Ducette, president of Bowden’s Union of Canadian Correctional Officers local, said while inmates will occasionally fashion drug needles out of what they can find inside the prison, the exchange program would introduce many more needles into the prison population.
“Out here, we don’t have an injectable needle problem. Most of the offenders will smoke, snort whatever they can get,” said Ducette, whose local represents just over 300 corrections officers.
“What is essentially happening by bringing needles in is we’re starting an injectable issue, in a sense, in a place where drugs are contraband and which they are not allowed to have.”
There is also the danger that needles can be used as weapons against the officers or other inmates. If an officer is pricked with a needle during a search they have to go on a medical cocktail to prevent infection that can require months to years of treatment.
“We don’t want the needles in the jail at all because it’s our safety (at risk) and it’s other inmates’ safety because they will use them as weapons against other inmates.”
Controlling where the needles end up once they are introduced will prove difficult, he predicted.
“That’s our issue too is the accountability for these needles. They are going to hand them out to people who want them but they’ll use them as currency to rent them out to other inmates.”
Many of the existing needle exchange programs are in maximum-security prisons where the movement of inmates is much more strictly controlled, he said.
The 700 inmates in Bowden’s medium- and minimum-security areas can move around much more freely, which would make it easier for needles to make the rounds as well, he said.
Ducette said the safety issues go beyond prison fences. Volunteers with various programs such as Alcoholics Anonymous are regular prison visitors along with inmates’ families and their children.
“It’s going to affect everyone in the community, visitors, volunteers the community itself.”
The union plans to distribute flyers and reach out to residents in nearby communities to spread the word about their concerns.
If the program must go ahead, officers want needle-resistant safety gloves to wear when searching prisoners.
“If we’re going to made to deal with this stuff, we just want proper equipment.”
A Corrections Service Canada (CSC) spokesman said the Prison Needle Exchange Program (PNEP) was first introduced in 2018 at Grand Valley Institution for Women in Ontario and Atlantic Institution in New Brunswick to complement existing harm reduction measures aimed at preventing needle sharing. The program is also aimed at reducing the spread of infectious diseases, such as HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis C, while linking inmates to health-care services and programs.
The program is now being offered in 11 federal institutions, including in Alberta, Bowden and Edmonton Institution for Women.
“It is important to note that this is just one measure that is available to incarcerated offenders and complements other existing measures,” says Corrections Canada.
“Before an individual can participate in the PNEP program, CSC completes a Threat Risk Assessment to confirm that it is suitable to allow the individual to possess a needle, similar to the one currently being used for EpiPens and needles for insulin use.
“There have been no reported assaults on employees or incarcerated offenders involving needles used in the PNEP program.”
The safety and well-being of prison staff is of “paramount importance,” says the CSC. “Frontline Correctional Officers are qualified to use, and are provided with, the necessary security equipment to ensure their safety and security in institutions, including protective vests, self-defence tools, and restraint equipment.”
A number of other measures, such as ensuring offenders are placed in the appropriate security settings, drug detection, and engagement and intervention models, are used to keep institutions safe.
To find contraband, searches ion scanners and detector dogs are available.