Public Safety committee  We try to search them as often as we can, but as I said, our manpower right now is low, so we don't get as many searches in as we want to. We would love to go through every unit at least twice a week, just go right through, but it disrupts everything in the facility for that day.

Public Safety committee  It's hard to determine who wants to and who doesn't want to. You've got to get them clear off the drugs and stuff first in order for them to actually make the clear decision as to whether they really want to stay off them and move forward with their lives. When we have certain inmates who continually try to bring drugs in or are continually smoking to get high and getting caught, we do separate them.

Public Safety committee  Yes, that would help. It would help us do our jobs and help us understand and enable us to help them more productively.

Public Safety committee  There is a lot of extra course work officers have to take on their own initiative afterwards. As officers, we get very basic training, but for the high-end addiction stuff, we have to take our own initiative.

Public Safety committee  That whole concept is just absurd to me, personally. I don't want any needles in there at all. They can say they're not going to use them as weapons, or what have you, but right now they shouldn't be getting drugs and brews in there and they're doing it. They will find a way to get that needle into their dorms and use it for other purposes.

Public Safety committee  As I say, they will get the needles where they want to get them, and then they can use them against other inmates, as well as officers. It won't be safe for anybody.

Public Safety committee  Yes, there is training. There are some officers, obviously, who have had more training. That's where it would help to have all officers on a level playing field and all get trained. A lot of this other training is done personally. You take it up on your own. It would be much better if it were mandatory for every officer to get this extra training.

Public Safety committee  Yes, everything helps. The main thing is just to try to keep the drugs and the alcohol out of prisons, period. That's going to be the biggest step and the biggest help with starting all these other programs and making them successful. Take that temptation away from them and they can make a clear and conscious decision without the threat of getting hurt, or something along those lines, and you can move forward from there.

Public Safety committee  By having more people? No, it shouldn't, if we do our jobs. We're looking good in Whitehorse because we're getting that new facility, so we're hoping it will be easier for us and more successful for us to keep the contraband out of the jail. In Whitehorse, anyway, we are set up to move forward and it shouldn't be a problem for us.

Public Safety committee  I would agree with that totally.

Public Safety committee  Direct supervision means that there will be an officer in the unit at all times. Where you have a unit with inmates--I believe the new prison has four male units and one female unit--while the inmates are out and about, there will be an officer in that unit.

Public Safety committee  Yes. They're checking and helping inmates with day-to-day stuff, helping with course work. For whatever help the inmates need, they come to that front-line officer. As well, when the officer is there, he has eyes on all the time. It's not just a camera now. There's an officer in there walking around, spending the whole day with the inmates.

Public Safety committee  Our building was built in the 1960s. We have converted at least five of our dorms into direct supervision, but right now we don't have the manpower half the time to actually staff those units.

Public Safety committee  If there's a will, there's a way. They find ways. A lot of them aren't dumb people. They've got time; they think about it and they come up with ways to do it. We're all human. I know there are officers who do bring it in for them, which is another thing.

Public Safety committee  Yes, it is.