Saskatchewan corrections officers sound alarm over facility conditions [Video]

Reports of increased drugs and violence within Saskatchewan corrections facilities have officers sounding the alarm.

James Bloomfield is the Prairie regional president for the Union of Canadian Corrections Officers (UCCO) and says these issues are not unique to just the Prairies.

“We have a much more violent population than we’ve ever had before in federal custody. We have more drugs than we’ve ever had before in federal custody. And these services are way behind our technology, creating that problem to just continue to get worse,” Bloomfield said.

Bloomfield says corrections workers face risk of assault and serious injury daily from inmates — adding overworked officers may suffer further if facilities aren’t given more support.

“We’ve had a lot of inmate deaths. We’ve had a lot of situations put inside that are very, very close to turning negatively, that go into the riot scenario. Corrections Canada likes to call it isolated incidents or whatever they …