Canada- Alberta fatality inquiry says inmates need more protection from violence

7-18-2009 Canada:

EDMONTON - A fatality inquiry report into the 2001 death of a young inmate concludes that Canada's prison system tolerates a culture of jailhouse assaults and murder and first-timers need to be instructed on the "con code" to prevent them from becoming victims.

The report, released Friday, lays out the gruesome details of how 21-year-old Jarrett Jabs of Calgary was beaten and stabbed to death during a riot at Drumheller Institution in southern Alberta. His pleas for protective custody had been rejected and guards told him to simply lock himself in his cell when he felt endangered.

Jabs, who was serving a two-year sentence for property crimes, locked the cell and hid under his bed. But other prisoners who had labelled him a "rat" or prisoner informer breached the lock and carried out the fatal attack.

The report notes that this was the first time that the locking device on a cell at the prison had been breached, but had subsequent improvements been in place, "Mr. Jabs likely would have been safe."

One of three prisoners who were prosecuted in Jabs' death was a serving a life sentence and the inquiry report says he was perceived by other inmates "as having nothing to lose by killing again."

After stabbing him in the face, the inmate returned and stabbed Jabs again in the neck with another knife because "he was concerned that Jabs might rat on him."

"About 30 minutes later, he was told that Jabs as still alive, so he grabbed an ice scraper and poked him in the eye. Jabs responded by trying to move away, so he whacked him over the back of the head."

Provincial court Judge Frank Maloney, who presided over the inquiry in January 2008, described the young man's murder as chilling, senseless and a "gratuitous act of violence that emphasizes what has been called 'man's inhumanity to man."'

But the judge also noted that Jabs was viewed by other prisoners as a "fish" whose childish behaviour had become an annoyance, which made him a target for violence.

"It could be surmised that as Mr. Jabs did not involve himself and participate with the rioters, he was targeted," says the report. "The uprising seemed to feed a decision to assault and then kill Mr. Jabs."

The report also notes how difficult it had become at Drumheller Institution for prisoners to get approval for protective custody and that Jabs' attempt to segregate himself from the other prisoners had been rejected. His family made it clear during the inquiry that they believe he would still be alive if he had been allowed into protective custody.

Four months before his death, Jabs'mother had contacted his parole officer out of concern for her son's safety. His mother, who could not be reached for comment on the inquiry report, said her son had correctly predicted that he would be "the next murder" at the prison. But the report notes she was told there was no evidence of any danger to her son.

However, the inquiry revealed that a guard had written in a report the month before the young inmate's death that "Jabs' continued attitude problems have generated some trouble with one of the aboriginal gangs." The guard also wrote that it was not clear how long that interventions by inmate committees and prison officials "can keep him from demise."

The report recommends that first-time inmates be provided with an orientation session upon arrival at a federal correction facility to give them instruction on the informal rules that exist among inmates - the con code.

"Ample evidence exists to indicate that Mr. Jabs either failed to understand the informal rules that exist within correctional facilities or failed to self-regulate his own behaviour," says the report, which also calls for a regular review of protective custody policies or restrictions.

But Judge Maloney candidly notes in his report that Correctional Services Canada "seems to be almost resigned to the level of violence" in Canada's prisons and has largely ignored past recommendations by coroners and fatality inquiries.

Maloney refers in his report to a 2007 study entitled "Deaths in Custody" that found "no evidence that the Correctional Service has improved its overall capacity to prevent or respond to deaths in custody during the five-year study period."

"It is likely that some of the deaths in custody could have been averted through improved risk assessments, more vigorous preventive measures and more competent and timely responses by institution staff," said the study by Thomas Gabor, a professor of criminology at the University of Ottawa.

Gabor's report found that the rate of death by homicide and suicide in Canada's prisons is eight times higher than in the general population.

Judge Maloney describes the findings in Gabor's report "disturbing" and concludes that the correctional service "fell short in implementing its own policies and practices and in doing everything possible to avert a fatality."

Howard Sapers, a government-appointed Correctional investigator who operates independently of the corrections system, says he's not surprised by the findings in Maloney's fatality inquiry report.

"I'm continually discouraged by such findings," Sapers said in an interview from Ottawa. "It's certainly consistent with our own investigations."

"Have things gotten worse since 2001? Well I can tell you they haven't gotten any better."

Sapers said he has examined a number of violent deaths in custody in every region of Canada and is troubled by the similarity in the events surrounding the deaths.

"The lack of staff responsiveness, inappropriate training, confusion in the chain of command, lack of adherence to policy," he said. "And these things are present in incident after incident." ..Source.. by Jim Macdonald, THE CANADIAN PRESS