BackOttawa, October 31, 2016 – The 43rd Annual Report of the Office of the Correctional Investigator was tabled today in Parliament. The report documents that security incidents in federal prisons involving inflammatory agents, primarily Oleoresin Capsicum (OC) or pepper spray, has tripled since 2011/12.
“Fully 60% of the 1,833 use of force incidents reviewed by my Office in 2015/16 involved the use of an inflammatory agent,” said Howard Sapers, Correctional Investigator of Canada. “Pepper spray has become the ‘go-to’ tool for inducing inmate compliance and managing security incidents in federal prisons. Reliance on coercive measures has largely displaced other less invasive methods of resolving tension and conflict behind bars,” stated Sapers.
Pepper spray became standard issue for most front-line correctional officers in September 2010. Since officers started wearing a pepper spray canister on their duty belt, the resort to and reliance on these agents has predictably and significantly increased. Interestingly, there has not been an increase in the severity of security incidents or threats that would justify or explain the increased use of force response.
The report notes that there are no national standards for recording the frequency or amount of the chemical or inflammatory agent used during security incidents. An inmate can be sprayed for refusing to comply with staff directions or orders; there is no requirement for there to be an imminent threat or danger. Regional monitoring and national oversight of how inflammatory agents are stored, weighed, inspected, assigned and controlled is lacking.
More than one-third of all use of force incidents reviewed by the Office involved inmates with a mental health issue identified by the Correctional Service. More than 40% of all use of force incidents that occurred at the five Regional Treatment Centres, which are accredited psychiatric hospitals, included the use of pepper spray.
The 2015-16 Annual Report of the Office of the Correctional Investigator contains 27 recommendations addressing key priorities such as prison health care, deaths in custody, conditions of detention and issues affecting Indigenous and federally sentenced women offenders.
As the ombudsman for federally sentenced offenders, the Office of the Correctional Investigator serves Canadians and contributes to safe, lawful and humane corrections through independent oversight of the Correctional Service of Canada by providing accessible, impartial and timely investigation of individual and systemic concerns. The report cited in this release is available here.
Source: Office of the Correctional Investigator of Canada
