 | This article may be unbalanced towards certain viewpoints.(May 2016) |
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| Location | 2244 Innes Road Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1B 4C4 |
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| Coordinates | 45°25′29″N75°34′47″W / 45.42466°N 75.57970°W Coordinates: 45°25′29″N75°34′47″W / 45.42466°N 75.57970°W |
| Status | Operational |
| Capacity | 575 |
| Opened | 1972 |
| Managed by | Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services |
The Ottawa-Carleton Detention Centre (OCDC) is a correctional facility in Ottawa, Ontario. [1] It opened in 1972.
The jail (referred to locally as "Innes") was condemned for not meeting United Nations standards for treatment of prisoners. In 2004, a defence lawyer likened it to an "Iraqi prison camp." [2] Some inmates are triple-bunked because of lack of space and overcrowding at the facility. [3] In 2016 it was revealed that showers were used as segregation cells. The Ottawa Citizen revealed this fact and the Minister responsible, Yasir Naqvi, stopped the practice. [4]
Inmates were put into solitary confinement 555 times between April and September 2015. Critics called these numbers "shocking". [5] Due to overcrowding, the jail resorted to double bunking (the practice was banned in 2016), converting showers into cells and placing 3 inmates at a time who were supposed to be "segregated" in the same cell. Inmates in the 30-man dormitory are often denied the mandatory 20 minutes a day of yard time for over 2 weeks. [6] [7]
In January 2016, correctional officers were within 24 hours of going on strike. The concerns raised by union members were increased lockdowns, a lack of personal and professional visits and a complete lockdown with no yard. [8]
A six-day hunger strike by prisoners occurred in December 2015. Prisoners were upset about having to eat meals in their cells due to lack of staffing at the prison. [9]
In March 2016, a special task force was formed to address issues as reported by inmates, staff, and their respective families and quickly identified 42 issues requiring significant improvement. Their first progress report was released late October 2016. The report showed 11 of 42 improvement recommendations having been complete. [10] The prison fulfilled 11 of these as of October 2016. They included a review of mental health training for staff and also guaranteed that inmates would be provided basic hygiene supplies. Additionally, the task force oversaw the introduction of a prisoner transportation coordinator, a daily bed usage reduction to 87%, and the elimination of bunking in showers as well as double/triple-bunking of cells, greatly contributing to relieving the general overcrowding issues. [11]
To date, the third and final task force progress report had reported that 21 of 42 recommended improvements had been completed, with realistic & measurable short-term goals set to complete the remaining 21. [12]
In March 2016 an inmate collapsed and died of a heart attack after complaining that they felt unwell. [13]
Solitary confinement is a form of imprisonment distinguished by living in single cells with little or no meaningful contact with other inmates, strict measures to control contraband, and the use of additional security measures and equipment. It is specifically designed for disruptive inmates who are security risks to other inmates, the prison staff, or the prison itself — but can also be used as a measure of protection for inmates whose safety is threatened by other inmates or as a form of disciplinary punishment.
Kingston Penitentiary is a former maximum security prison located in Kingston, Ontario, Canada, between King Street West and Lake Ontario.
Rikers Island is a 413.17-acre (167.20-hectare) island in the East River between Queens and the Bronx that contains New York City's main jail complex. Named after Abraham Rycken, who took possession of the island in 1664, the island was originally under 100 acres (40 ha) in size, but has since grown to more than 400 acres (160 ha). The first stages of expansion were accomplished largely by convict labor hauling in ashes for landfill. The island is politically part of the Bronx, although bridge access is from Queens. It is part of Queens Community Board 1 and uses an East Elmhurst, Queens, ZIP Code of 11370 for mail.
Incarceration in the United States is a primary form of punishment and rehabilitation for the commission of felony and other offenses. The United States has the largest prison population in the world, and the highest per-capita incarceration rate. One out of every 5 people imprisoned across the world is incarcerated in the United States. In 2018 in the US, there were 698 people incarcerated per 100,000; this includes the incarceration rate for adults or people tried as adults. In 2016, 2.2 million Americans have been incarcerated, which means for every 100,000 there are 655 who are currently inmates. Prison, parole, and probation operations generate an $81 billion annual cost to U.S. taxpayers, while police and court costs, bail bond fees, and prison phone fees generate another $100 billion in costs that are paid by individuals.
The Parramatta Correctional Centre is a heritage-listed former medium security prison for males on the corner of O'Connell and Dunlop Streets, North Parramatta, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It was in operation between 1798 and 2011. The centre was initially called Parramatta Gaol until its name was changed to Parramatta Correctional Centre in 1992. When in operation, the centre was managed by Corrective Services NSW, an agency of the Department of Attorney General and Justice of the Government of New South Wales. Immediately prior to its closure, the centre detained short term sentenced and remand inmates, operated as a transient centre, and was the periodic detention centre for metropolitan Sydney.
HM Prison Birmingham is a Category B men's prison, located in the Winson Green area of Birmingham, England. The prison was operated by G4S from 2011, before it was returned to HM Prison and Probation Service in August 2018. The government takeover was originally planned to be temporary pending improvement, but became permanent in April 2019.
CoreCivic, formerly the Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), is a company that owns and manages private prisons and detention centers and operates others on a concession basis. Co-founded in 1983 in Nashville, Tennessee by Thomas W. Beasley, Robert Crants, and T. Don Hutto, it received investments from the Tennessee Valley Authority, Vanderbilt University, and Jack C. Massey, the founder of Hospital Corporation of America.
The Metropolitan Detention Center, Brooklyn is a United States federal administrative detention facility in the Sunset Park neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York City. It holds male and female prisoners of all security levels. It is operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, a division of the United States Department of Justice.
Walnut Street Prison was a city jail and penitentiary house in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from 1773 to 1838. Legislation calling for establishment of the jail was passed in 1773 to relieve overcrowding in the High Street Jail; the first prisoners were admitted in 1776. It was located at Sixth and Walnut Streets, where it acquired its original name Walnut Street Jail.
The Vernon C. Bain Correctional Center (VCBC), also known as the Vernon C. Bain Maritime Facility and under the nickname "The Boat", is an 800-bed jail barge used to hold inmates for the New York City Department of Corrections. The barge is anchored off the Bronx's southern shore, across from Rikers Island, near Hunts Point. It was built for $161 million at Avondale Shipyard in Louisiana, along the Mississippi River near New Orleans, and brought to New York in 1992 to reduce overcrowding in the island's land-bound buildings for a lower price. Nicknamed "The Boat" by prison staff and inmates, it is designed to handle inmates from medium- to maximum-security in 16 dormitories and 100 cells.
The Metropolitan Correctional Center, New York is a United States federal administrative detention facility in the Civic Center of Lower Manhattan, New York City, located on Park Row behind the Thurgood Marshall United States Courthouse at Foley Square. It is operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, a division of the United States Department of Justice.
HM Prison Brixton is a local men's prison, located in Brixton area of the London Borough of Lambeth, in inner-South London. The prison is operated by Her Majesty's Prison Service.
A prison, also known as a jail or gaol, penitentiary, detention center, correction center, correctional facility, lock-up or remand center, is a facility in which inmates are confined and denied a variety of freedoms under the authority of the state as punishment for various crimes. Prisons are most commonly used within a criminal justice system: people charged with crimes may be imprisoned until their trial; those pleading or being found guilty of crimes at trial may be sentenced to a specified period of imprisonment. In simplest terms, a prison can also be described as a building in which people are legally held as a punishment for a crime they have committed.
Louisiana Correctional Institute for Women (LCIW) is a prison for women with its permanent pre-2016 facility located in St. Gabriel, Louisiana. It is the only female correctional facility of the Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections. Elayn Hunt Correctional Center is immediately west of LCIW. LCIW includes the state's female death row. As of 2017 the prison has temporarily moved due to flooding that occurred in August 2016, and its prisoners are housed in other prisons. The administration is temporarily located in the former Jetson Youth Center near Baker. By 2021 the Baker area address was given for the prison on the LCIW website.
Prison overcrowding is a social phenomenon occurring when the demand for space in prisons in a jurisdiction exceeds the capacity for prisoners. The issues associated with prison overcrowding are not new, and have been brewing for many years. During the United States' War on Drugs, the states were left responsible for solving the prison overcrowding issue with a limited amount of money. Moreover, federal prison populations may increase if states adhere to federal policies, such as mandatory minimum sentences. On the other hand, the Justice Department provides billions of dollars a year for state and local law enforcement to ensure they follow the policies set forth by the federal government concerning U.S. prisons. Prison overcrowding has affected some states more than others, but overall, the risks of overcrowding are substantial and there are solutions to this problem.
Prison violence is a daily occurrence due to the diversity of inmates with varied criminal backgrounds in penitentiaries. The three different types of attacks are inmate on inmate, inmate on guard, and self-inflicted. These attacks can either be impulsive and spontaneous or well-planned out and premeditated. Factors such as gang rivalries, overcrowding, minor disputes, and prison design contribute to violent attacks. Prisons are trying to avoid, or at least better deal with these situations by being proactive. They are taking steps like placing violent convicts and gang leaders into solitary confinement, balancing the cells by critically examining each inmate to see where they are likely to reside peacefully, reducing blind spots, and training as well as educating the officers.
Mentally ill people are overrepresented in United States jail and prison populations relative to the general population. There are three times more seriously mentally ill persons in jails and prisons than in hospitals in the United States. The exact cause of this overrepresentation is disputed by scholars; proposed causes include the deinstitutionalization of mentally ill individuals in the mid-twentieth century; inadequate community mental health treatment resources; and the criminalization of mental illness itself. The majority of prisons in the United States employ a psychiatrist and a psychologist. While much research claims mentally ill offenders have comparable rates of recidivism to non-mentally ill offenders, other research claims that mentally ill offenders have higher rates of recidivism. Mentally ill people experience solitary confinement at disproportionate rates and are more vulnerable to its adverse psychological effects. Twenty-five states have laws addressing the emergency detention of the mentally ill within jails, and the United States Supreme Court has upheld the right of inmates to mental health treatment.
The 2018 U.S. prison strike was a series of work stoppages and hunger strikes in prisons across the United States that began on August 21 and ended on September 9. The strike was conducted at least in part in response to the April 2018 prison riot at Lee Correctional Institution, which killed seven inmates and was the deadliest prison riot in the U.S. in the past 25 years.
The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted prisons globally. There have been outbreaks of COVID-19 reported in prisons and jails around the world, with the housing density and population turnover of many prisons contributing to an increased risk of contracting the virus compared to the general population. Prison crowding and lack of sanitation measures contribute to the risk of contracting diseases in prisons and jails. As a mitigation measure, several jurisdictions have released prisoners to reduce density and attempt to reduce the spread of the illness. There have also been protests among prisoners, riots and prison breaks in multiple countries in response to prisoner anger over their risk of contracting illness in prison conditions. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, health services within prisons had issues providing adequate care for incarcerated people, and this has only been exacerbated by the impacts of COVID-19. Minority groups within the prison system have been disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Her Majesty's Penitentiary (HMP) refers to Newfoundland and Labrador's (NL) prison system in Canada. Its name is derived from the English prison system known as Her Majesty's Prison Service (HMPS). The Newfoundland and Labrador prison system consists of five provincial prison's and two short-term holding facilities which include:
