A report into four deaths inside prison walls in this province wants the justice system to consider technology to help reduce the amount of drugs getting to inmates.

The Jesso Report into the deaths of Skye Martin and Samantha Piercey in Clarenville, and Douglas Neary and Chris Sutton at Her Majesty’s Penitentiary makes 17 recommendations, all of which have been accepted by government.

However, many of those recommendations, such as the call for a new penitentiary, will take years to accomplish.

The review found that the drug problem at HMP has increased to where it’s a major concern.

Preventing drugs from getting inside is increasingly difficult and existing security measures are insufficient. The review team wants HMP to consider deploying body scanners, which are used by penal institutions elsewhere.

When drugs are present, staff describe it as chaotic as there are conflicts among inmates and the units are locked down to do searches. Those who require medication for mental health issues during lockdowns are deprived of their proper treatment and are afraid to disclose to staff in fear of further repercussion.

The impact of illicit drug activity leads to an increase in the number of assaults, threats of violence and adverse health reactions to the drugs.

Changing Population Makes Recreation Harder Than Before: Parsons

Meanwhile, the report also recommends that recreation be provided to inmates for a least one hour per-day as per-standing orders.

The report says the challenge in having inmates access recreation is primarily due to staffing shortages, inmate compatibility issues and an outdated facility, HMP.

It says senior staff told the review team that recreation is sometimes limited to once or twice a week, however HMP Standing Order 14 states “recreation will be divided into four, one-hour groups daily”.

Justice Minister Andrew Parsons says the inmate population is very different than it was 10 years ago, making it much harder.

He says it’s getting harder and harder for staff to deal with the level of incompatible inmates where you cannot have one around the other without leading to a situation where someone gets harmed, whether it’s staff or inmates.

The Jesso report says inmates at HMP must have more access to outside recreation and fresh air. For example, the construction of temporary airing courts designed to allow more inmates access to outside should be considered.