Tactical police put down Manitoba prison riot

Police called in to quash riot at Brandon jail
Isolated to one area of facility

By: Jillian Austin
Winnipeg Free Press
October 5, 2009

A member of the BPS Tactical Response Unit trains his weapon on a portion of the east side of the Brandon Correctional Institute on Veterans way during a disturbance that lasted over four hours on Sunday afternoon. A group of prisoners took over a portion of the facility and began damaging it. They were eventually contained by members of the Corrections Emergency Response Unit.

BRANDON — It took four hours and heavily-armed tactical police units using pepper spray to bring a riot by 27 inmates of the Brandon Correctional Institute under control Sunday.

Witnesses say police also used flash-bang stun grenades and water hoses to regain control of the jail.

One inmate suffered minor injuries in the riot, which began about 12:45 p.m.

Officials are still assessing the damage to the Brandon jail, and still trying to find answers — why did the riot start? Who was involved? And was it gang-related?

Officials said the riot was brought under control after roughly four hours of emergency response and negotiations.

It was a dramatic scene outside of the jail, as members of the Brandon Police Service’s tactical response unit lined the perimeter with guns trained on the east side of the facility.

Authorities said the incident began around 12:45 p.m., when inmates began damaging the units.

“Initially, what was requested of us was to contain the situation from a perimeter standpoint,” Brandon police Sgt. Bruce Klassen said in a press conference Sunday night.

“Upon further incident… our tactical response unit was also requested.”

Klassen confirmed pepper spray was used as a tactical response.

A witness reported seeing responders fire a stream of water into the area, as well as using flash-bang stun grenades.

Guards were seen wearing riot gear and gas masks.

The incident was quickly isolated to one area in the east side of the facility.

“The rest of the facility locked down without incident, and it was contained to those two smaller sub-units, which is a fairly small portion of the facility,” said Michelle Duncan, superintendent of the Winnipeg Remand Centre, who quickly came to Brandon to brief the media one behalf of the corrections division of Manitoba’s Justice Department.

The Riot Act was read.

However, Duncan said, officials at the scene didn’t consider it a “full-fledged situation” based on the number of prisoners involved.

Along with Brandon’s correctional emergency response unit, both the Headingley correctional response team and the provincial crisis negotiating team assisted with the incident.

About 282 inmates were in the jail at the time.

Once the situation was brought under control, inmates involved in the incident were either secured elsewhere in the Brandon facility or transferred to Winnipeg.

No staff members were injured in the incident.

One offender sustained minor injuries requiring stitches, Duncan said.

Authorities were satisfied with the quick and successful response.

“Our staff did an extraordinary job, as they always do,” Duncan said.

From outside the jail, substantial damage can be seen to the area impacted by the riot. Whether prisoners used weapons during the disturbance, or if the incident is tied to gang activity, remains to be seen.

“I’m not aware of any (weapons) but that doesn’t mean there wasn’t,” Duncan said, adding more details will be released once the province’s investigation is complete.

The provincial department of justice issued a statement Sunday evening that said 27 inmates were involved in what the government called an incident, and that 255 other inmates who had not been involved were in lockdown.

Yet, the government’s own website says the Brandon Correctional Institute is designed to hold 157 adult men, along with short-term holding areas for 10 young offenders and four women.

The Manitoba Government and General Employees Union spokesman John Baert said it’s too early to say if overcrowding played any part in the riot, which he believed was the worst to hit a Manitoba facility since the Headingley riot of 1996.

“We’ve said that about facilities in Manitoba, we’ve been vocal about the issue of overcrowding,” Baert said Sunday night.

MGEU opened its offices in Brandon Sunday evening to help any staff suffering stress or trauma, Baert said.

“I can confirm that no correctional officers were injured,” said Baert.

He said Ken Crawford, the MGEU’s representative for correctional officers, left Winnipeg for Brandon late Sunday afternoon, along with other union staff to meet with employees of the Brandon jail.

Baert said the union would likely make a statement this morning.

“Certainly, we’ll be asking those questions” about who was involved in the riot, how and why it happened and whether there were any warning signs of trouble, Baert said.

RCMP spokesman Const. David Obirek said that the Mounties were not called in to help.