Summary
"Statistics show that there is little to no violence in community corrections offices, and BC Corrections staff working in custody are quite safe in their jobs relative to personnel in other ministries. However, violence between inmates has increased.
Incremental recommendations for correctional centres suggest a focus on those who are the most violent and separating those who want to change from those who don’t. Enhancing access to risk-related information, measures to protect staff, and an expanded, less-crowded system will support safer institutions. Helping more offenders to find work, transition into society, and deal with mental health concerns and addictions will further enhance safety in custody and in our communities. Recommendations relating to community corrections offices are quite minor in nature.
A general discussion of transformational directions for the longer-term focuses on the problem of drugs and alcohol as drivers of crime in B.C. By helping people break free from addictions, recovery-based treatment in the community holds promise to reduce recidivism more than short custodial sentences."--Page 2.
Contents
1. Safety in context -- 1.1. The broad statistical picture -- 1.1.1. A snapshot of our correctional system -- 1.1.2. Who is safe, and who is under threat? -- 1.2. Measures of in-custody safety -- 1.2.1. The use of force in custody -- 1.2.2. Incidents of violence -- 1.2.3. Weapons -- 1.2.4. In-custody disciplinary hearings -- 1.3. Measures of in-community safety -- 1.4. Comparisons with health and social service workers -- 1.5. Conclusions about safety -- 2. Incremental recommendations -- 2.1. In-custody recommendations: general safety improvements -- 2.1.1. Use of the CORNET database -- 2.1.2. Enhancing safety for front-line staff -- 2.1.3. Addressing inmate to staff ratios -- 2.1.4. Prosecuting violence -- 2.1.5. Drug contraband in correctional centres -- 2.1.6. Policing in correctional centres -- 2.1.7. Work in custody -- 2.2. Easing the transition to the community -- 2.2.1.
Stakeholder involvement -- 2.2.2.
The use of open custody -- 2.2.3.
Dealing with mental health needs and addictions -- 2.3. In-community recommendations -- 2.3.1.
Probation officers and their workplace -- 2.3.2.
Office security -- 2.3.3.
Victim notification -- 2.3.4.
Programming -- 2.3.5.
Work for clients supervised in the community -- 3. Transformational change -- 3.1. The problem of the system: recidivism -- 3.2. The reason for recidivism: addictions -- 3.3. The response to recidivism: recovery-based treatment -- 3.4. Implementing recovery-based treatment.