The review of the deaths of four people at the penitentiary in St. John’s and the women’s facility in Clarenville has not found any reason or information to put the blame on any one person or persons. However, inmates are not getting access to services and programs they need.

The review makes 17 recommendations but dozens of pages with details on the deaths of the four people have been redacted. Skye Martin and Samantha Piercey died while in the Clarenville Prison for Women; Douglas Neary and Christopher Sutton died while at the Pen.

The review calls on government to:

• Immediately improve training for correctional officers;
• Use “dynamic” security by having more interaction between inmates and guards;
• Have random—instead of only scheduled—inmate counts;
• Put a plan in place to keep drugs out of HMP, where more and more drugs are getting in;
• Improve communication between HMP and the Waterford;
• Improve video archiving practices in cases where serious bodily harm or death has occurred;
• Have more recreation time for inmates;
• Expand mental health services;
• Develop a female offender strategy;
• Create space in Clarenville and St. John’s for a mental health unit, which is therapeutic and staffed with mental health professionals.

It also calls on government to transfer all health-related components inside prison walls to the Department of Health and Community Services, and to focus on rehabilitation rather than incarceration.

The “Newfoundland and Labrador Corrections and Community Services: Deaths in Custody Review” can be found at this link.