Page 4, The Herald, Friday, September 14, 1979

TERRACE/KITIMAT

daily herald

Ganeral CHtice - 435-6357
Circulation - 635-6357

Published by
Sterling Publishers

GEN, MANAGER - Knox Coupland
EDITOR - Greg Middleton

CIRCULATION - TERRACE - 635-6357
KITIMAT OF FICE - 632-2747: .
Published every weekday at 3712 Kalum Streat,
Terrace, 8.C. A member of Varified Circulation.
Authorized as second class mail. Registration number
1201. Postage paid in cash, return postage guaranteed.

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EDITOR'S —
JOURNAL

BY

IT IS DIFFERENT

Terrace has a prison here >

Community
Correctional
Centre
stresses
getting back
into the — |

GREG
MIDDLETON

It used to be quite the place, or so they say. People
came from everywhere to visit Skoglund Hotsprings.
Some of the older folks came to sooth their bodies in
the warmth of the mineral springs, which reach 180
degrees Farenheight in temperature. The younger
ones, even some newly weds, brought their own
warmth and added to the glow of the dining lounge.

I've heard it said the resort started to deteriorate
when the pub went in. The local rowdies, it is stated,
would come out on the weekend then and raise too
much furore for the guests. ;

Others blame the running down of the facility on the
absentee owners, a Calgary firm who gave the place
away after last fall's flood went through it, doing an
even more thorough job of making the place
unliveable than the previous neglect had.

After the flood, the vandalscame in. The place is a
wreck now, Even with an armed guard and under the
watchful eye of the large bristling German shepard,
the curious come in. Some bloodied by the dog, but
others set up camp on the grounds like the invading
Germanic tribes their kind are named after.

The health department had closed the famed
mineral water pools sometime before... The bacteria
count was apparently too high. Chlorine was
suggested and yet was the very kind of thing those who
went te the hotsprings want to avoid.

Yes, Skoglund Hotsprings isn’t what it used to be.
The carpets are out and moulding somewhere. The
trim in the rooms is warping and peeling away from
the walls as the paint lifts from the walls and plaster - |-
softens. ;

The place stinks.

A once-deautiful vacation and health resort smells
of rot and decay. In spite of the miasma that pervades
the place there is a possibility that things are going to
happen there again,

One of the skulkers was Cabinet Minister Jim
Chabot, in whose department the place was dumped. vee
MLA Frank Howard, a man who has spent his years
watching the doors of power and is adept at predicting
when they are about to open, is volunteering his
services to co-ordinate some input into the decigion he
sees coming. Ries

Now is the time to put forward your proposals. More
is bubbling than just the steaming, sulphurous ponds
around Lakelse,

*

Letters welcome

‘tne Herald welcomes its readers comments.
All letters to the editor of general public interest .
will be printed. We do, however, retain the right
‘ta refuse to print letters on grounds of possible
libel or bad taste. We, may algo edit letters for
style and length. All letters to be considered for
publication must be signed.

community

af -
Pd

ee

The director of the correctional centre here, Mike people th k itis still a hotel.
Hoxsey, surveys his domaln, and notes that many

By ERLEEN COMEAU
Herald Staff Writer

The renovated Blue Gables Hotel on Highway
.16 has served as the Terrace Community
Correctional Centre for the past two years, but
the residents of the building are not asseciated

‘ with the usual correctional centre stigma.

Mike Hoxsey, corrections officer, refers to the
offenders doing time in the centre as residents.
They are adult males who have been through the
court systém and this is the bottom line.

The centre is minimum security and its
original objective was to deal with people ser-
ving 90 days or less.

“We felt the community didn’t feel com-
fortable with incarcerated offenders,” Hoxsey
said,

Hoxsey stated that after eight months of
rigidly following the rules that were initiated to
control the type of offender to be housed.

. “We researched it and relaxed 90 day

situations,” he said.

The Terrace provincial court has taken a
positive interest in the centre and approached
the officials to house offenders remanded for

COMMUNITY
CORRECTIONAL CENTER

Ce

elikes itlike that, |

sentencing. Hoxsey said the centre is unique in
that “we do take people directly from the courts,
they do not go through a provincial classification
system.” —. ;

“We save 8 great deal of money in the justice
system,” Hoxsey said, because transportation is
not required to move these residents to other
centres such as Prince George. “We saved
$47,000, which is roughly the wage of two
correctional officers,” he said. .

Examples of offences committed by the
residents were mischief, common assault, and
concealed weapons. Hoxsey stated they do not
house sexual offenders. . .

Discipling residents who misuse their
freedoms granted by the centre is dictated by
two areas of the police and prisons act.

“Tf it is a serious thing it has to be followed,”
said Hoxsey.

A resident being disciplined would appear
before a discipling panel of three persons in-
dependent of the charging officer, A maximum
of 30 days remission could be taken away as a
penalty, by this panel. ; ;

The residents are employed in the community
in various types of work. Hoxsey says it is
bizarre what concern employers have and stated
he has never had a situation where a resident
was on an employment situation and stole or was
discourteous. ‘ ;

“It is a statistical fact, knock om wood,'’ he
said.

“‘Tnitially the community was not responsive, a
jail was a jail and we had to do a tremendous
amount of public relations work,” stated Hox-

sey,

The elderly now call for assistance and a great
deal of community service work is performed by
the, residents.

“Credibility in Terrace is pretty good,” he
said. ,

Hoxsey commented on escapes saying,
“spontaneous, not planned walkaways” have
taken place and are contributed to by domestic

. problems.

Hard and fast ‘rules: do apply when the
residents are away from the centre on negotiated
leave of absences. One is staying clear of
poolhalls and liquor establishments. This is a
hard rule to enforce says Hoxsey, as most
everywhere they go they encounter this problem.

The resident is evaluated on merits, said
Hoxsey.

“We have latitude to evaluate this person and
tailor our rules to fit his particular situation,” he
said. ‘We can't take two ounces of rehabilitation
and give him a hit. ‘If 1 have a fellow who is
spending two years less a day for doing dope and
he for 10 years made $150,000 a year and has a

Lincoln. .parked outside, “how. am! going to —

rehabilitate him?” .

Hoxsey said officers at the centre are always
training to perform their jobs.

“85 per cent is gut and 15 per cent is formal
training,” he said.

Hoxsey evaluated the correctional officer’s
task by stating “a degree of cynicism would be of
value, not cynicism in terms of there is no hope,
but eynical enough to realize that they got

themselves in that situation.” He added, ‘‘how

can I adjust this person's moral values if he can’t
see what he is doing." = 0

Hoxsey commented on the correctional system
in general by stating ‘Il think the people who
dictate policy are becoming aware that they are
dealing with human beings, it is pretty hard to
deal with an empty shell.” He added “these
people can become responsible citizens.”

The centre is the only one in the province
unique in that it has established a relationship
with the justice system to obtain feedback
negative as well as positive.

“We have a lialson with them,'’ said Hoxsey of
the sheriff's department and probation officers,

Hoxsey contributes the success of the centre to
a team concept, and stated they are the only
provincial centre that runs under this concept.

“If T have one success, I figure my career is
well spent,” said Hoxsey.

Just

closing B.C. |

By PETER KINSEY

VANCOUVER (CP) — Closing the
British Columbia penitentiary will
not solve the problema that led to Its
long history of riots and hostage-tak-
ings, says Dr. Guy Richmond, whe
has spent most of his life working in
prisons.

He says there is potential for
trouble after the general population
ls moved from the century-old B.C.
pen in New Westminster to the new
Kent Institution at Agassiz, 100 kile-
metres east of Vancouver.

“The move is resented by many
prisoners, and the staff will have to
make a special effort or there will be
real trouble,” he said in an inter-

view.

Both Institutions are maximum-
security operations,

Richmond said prisoners who
move to Kent — some moved on
Aug. 1 — are concerned that they
will receive fewer visits because
visitors will have to travel farther,
He added that the major problem
will be work programs.

Most prisoners in the B.C. pen
have lost their incentive to work -~
largely because the pen has not had
8 good work program for years — so

if no effort is made at Kent “to keep
the prisoners’ interests and emo-
tional needs filled, there will be
trouble,"

The B.C. penitentiary has had
more than its share of violence over
the years and officials are aware of
some of the Causes.

There are as many reasons for
riots and hostage-takings as there
are individuals who initiate them,
officials say, but some general
conclusions can be drawn.

Such incidents explode because
prisoners feel they are not getting
something they deserve, or as short.
cuts to normal channels of getting
things done. Many are aggravated
by overcrowding and staff attitudes,
and are seldom committed as a
means of escaping custody.

Some critics of the old pen blamed
its problems on its age.

"There is some evidence that
physical surroundings do contribute
to inappropriate conduct in an in-
stitution,” said Dr. Alfred Keltner, a
clinical psychologist.

Richmond agreed, saying that
whenever you get a smaller
population “there is much less

at."

PRISON FEATURE

Jack Stewart, spokesman for:,the
Canadian Penitentiary Servite
discussing reasons for riols and
hostage-takings in prisons, said:

“Some are personal; others are

Rewer
Patetatatateate eae

trying for general prison reform;
some are frivolous; athers are not.

“We have never established a
special kind of pattern, except that
where prisoners have perceived an
incident as being successful, others
will follow.”

Stewart feels that some of the
hostage-takings at the B.C. pen
during the last few years were
staged by prisoners as media
events. :

yen said not answer

‘ “Prisoners were more concerned
with thelr public image. ... They

"7, Were very aware how to present

Ninth part of an
i l-part feature on prisons

themselves” in news releases and
during news conferences.

Keltner said that if going through
the official bureaucracy, or the
informal structure among prisoners
does not give the individual what he
wants, “then the person either suc-
cumbs or reacts, and reacts
viglently."

Stewart agreed that riots and
hostage-takings are used to achieve
A goal but suggested tht tao often
prisoners use them as a short-cut,
rather than going through official
channels,

Keltner also said that tighter
discipline in a prison creates
problems, rather than better con-
trol.

“Repression and a firm hand
inside create more violence, If we

ees, attempt to return lo the inmate his

self-worth and status, then we may
get back a human being.”

To stop riots and hoatege-takings,
said Stewart, ‘there is a quick and
easy solution: keep each individual
locked up 24 hours a day.”

But this obviously is not the an-
swer, he added.

“Tf am sure we will be heavily
criticized when people see Kent. It
does not look like the B.C. pen.

“We will probably be criticized for
going too far the other way to ensure
that prisoners as human beings get
comforts.”

There now is an improved at-
mosphere in the B.C. pen, say some
who are involved with the prison.

“There has been a marked
lessening of hostility between in-
mates and staff,” said Richmond.
"The mutual reaction is less
hostile.” ‘

The head of the new disciplinary

board, set up to replace the warden's

court for diselplining prisoners,

agreed that tensions have been re-
ced,

“There have been fewer cases (for
discipline) in the last two or three
months than when we started," sald
Clive Rippon, a Victoria lawyer.

“That may be attributable to
shipping out some of the heavies,
although 1 gather there are new
heavies coming in.

“ft think one thing we have been
able.to do is take the heat off the
warden so he no longer is the guy
who dishes out punishment. He is the
enemy — all staff are — to
prisoners, but we have relieved him
of dishing out punishment."

The disciplinary board was set up
in Jenuary, 1978, as the result of
recommendations made by a
parliamentary subcommittee which
investigated federal prisons.

“We are to a degree tougher than
the warden was," Rippon said. “We
are tougher and they (prisoners)
perceive us as being tougher, but 1 -
P lieve they perceive ua aa being
air."

e