Yes, sir.
Good afternoon. My name is Bill Normington and I've worked at a grassroots security level in Canadian prisons for over half of my life.
I can assure you that the problem with the introduction of drugs and alcohol getting into our prisons is nothing new, and that's the bad news. The good news, however, is that it can be fixed.
The key to the problem is highly motivated staff and a strong, supportive chain of command. When I began my employment in corrections, the majority of our staff were ex-military. I was tutored by veterans who encouraged me to engage offenders at every opportunity. This, of course, opened the door to communication with offenders and taught me the importance of dynamic security, lessons that should be encouraged in staff today.
The demographic has changed, but like the Canadian military of the late sixties, when trades personnel retired, a void of experience was created, and that's what we're experiencing now in corrections. Corrections is experiencing a similar void and there is a lack of older, experienced personnel to guide and encourage young officers, many of whom are not completing their function well. Many are text messaging while on duty, which in turn creates a lack of initiative to perform their function well and a failure on the part of correctional managers to effectively direct them.
To its credit, the government has attempted to provide the necessary tools required to have an impact on the problem. However, the most diligent officers are often discouraged, and the least productive are sometimes rewarded. The ion scanner, for example, is a machine that detects particles of drugs on visitors or whoever would enter the institution. Particles of drugs that would normally ban a visitor from entering our institutions are often allowed by the shift supervisor who dismisses the positive results of the scanner, citing machine or operator error, which sounds pretty bad.
However, there are many things we can do to have an impact on this situation. The first thing we have to do is to motivate staff. We also have to communicate with more offenders dynamically. And we must have positive, experienced staff mentor our new recruits, and we should install cellphone blocks in our institutions. Our staff should be supported while they're trying to carry out their very difficult jobs. The tools that are given to us should be trusted and be used; they shouldn't be second-guessed. Finally, we should re-establish a chain of command.
I know these are simple solutions, but they will improve the situation now, and perhaps vastly in the future.
Thank you.