By Kellah Lavoie

Saskatchewan penitentiary on lockdown

Feb 25, 2011 | 10:06 AM

Inmates in the maximum security units Saskatchewan Penitentiary are on lockdown.

They have been restricted to their cells since Tuesday afternoon and it the lockdown is set to continue through the weekend.

Events like this are not uncommon within the penitentiary, said Darcy Begrand, Correctional Services Canada spokesman. He said they are looking for contraband.

The inmates will stay locked-up for the duration of the search – including eating meals in their cells.

“We have security intelligence officers that help gather information from various sources – whether it is police, community visitors, other inmates – and if they have a suspicion that there may be contraband within the institution, that gives us the authority to stop what we’re doing, lock the place down and try to locate stuff,” he said.

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They hope to open up one of the two units in the penitentiary today or Saturday, Begrand said.

It is the goal to get though the lockdown as quickly and safely as possible, he said.

“Lockdowns can be stressful on the inmates and when you have inmates dealing with stress they can, their anger can elevate and we want to control that as much as possible and it is our goal to do fairly quickly and efficiently.”

He said he cannot say exactly what they are looking for. The term contraband is vague and includes many different things.

“There are times we seize simple things like an inmate may trade his TV, that sort of bartering or lending in the institution and that’s not allowed, so simple things like that, but at the same time we might find stabbing-type weapons or club-type weapons or narcotics or medications that are issued to someone else, that they in turn sell for whatever, and that’s common too,” he said.

He said it takes time because the inmates can be “crafty” in where they keep contraband so it is not found.

The staffing levels are normal, but with inmates being locked away it frees up personnel to help with the search, Bergrand said.

By searching for, and removing, contraband it creates a safer environment for everyone, he said.

klavoie@panow.com