Overcrowding at Pine Grove an issue: SGEU
Nearly a year after concerns were raised about the number of prisoners at Pine Grove Correctional Centre, the union representing corrections workers at the facility is highlighting issues about overcrowding.
Currently, according to the Government of Saskatchewan, there are 197 prisoners in the 188-bed facility. However those numbers could swell into the winter months and this time last year the facility had a population of 212 with inmates being accommodated in the gym because of stresses across the whole system. Saskatchewan Government Employees Union President Bob Bymoen said when facilities are housing too many people, problems can arise.
“It just creates a really tough environment to house inmates, anyone that way and treat them in a humane way,” he said.
Specifically, Bymoen explained when facilities are forced to accommodate more people then they are designed for, inmates can be housed in makeshift dorms set up in spaces like gyms.