Ontario Jail Tour: A Law Student Perspective
In November 2019, during my first semester at law school, I went on an organized jail tour of the local detention centre with some of my peers from my criminal law class, to supplement the course material and aid in our understanding of what we were learning at the time. The tour guide was a sergeant at the detention centre that was in charge of leading all their organized tours.
While the experience was interesting and educational, it was also chilling to a degree. As I was directed through the halls of the detention centre alongside my group of about 10 students, I couldn’t help but feel as though what we were doing was wrong. While the inmates were in their cells for the entirety of our tour, I still got the feeling that I was walking through a zoo where there were caged animals. It simply didn’t feel right. At one point, we were each allowed to quickly peak through a window into the area where there were a few cells so that we could see where the inmates stayed, and ultimately see the inmates themselves. After this particular experience, I viewed the rest of the tour with a very critical eye on the detention centre specifically and on the criminal justice system more broadly.
This article is intended as a brief reflection of my experience at the detention centre tour, and my critical opinion on the some of the questionable processes and protocols in operation at this specific detention centre. I believe it is important for myself as a law student and future lawyer to take a highly critical view of the criminal justice system, as it is important that all members of our society are treated humanely and with respect.
During the tour, the sergeant explained that there are ten units of inmates throughout the jail and explained that the inmates are divided based on their gender, mental state, and social status. The sergeant outlined the importance of separating the male and female inmates in separate units and described how there would be many difficulties with controlling of the inmates and power dynamics between inmates if the genders were mixed.
She further explained that when inmates are first brought into the jail, or when they are returning to the jail from any permitted trips off the premises, they have to go through a body scan.
In regard to the body scan, the sergeant explained that it is important that male sergeants can only view the body scans of male inmates, however, female sergeants are permitted to view body scans from both genders. Personally, I believe that this policy sends out a problematic message, as there is little sense in permitting a female sergeant to look at body scans of the opposite gender. The notion of only allowing males to look at male scans is a respectable policy decision, however, allowing females to review scans of the opposite gender is sexist and fosters a double standard between the genders. I equate this rule with a problematic myth surrounding sexual violence. It is a common misconception in today’s society that men cannot be sexually violated by a woman. While the statistics do illustrate that it is far more common for woman to experience sexual violence, men do as well, granted in a smaller percentage. This myth that men cannot or do not experience sexual violence diminishes and trivializes the experience that men have faced around this matter.
In my opinion, this policy regarding body scanning should be modified, such that sergeants should only be permitted to view body scans of inmates who identify as the same sex as themselves. This aligns with policy considerations regarding sexual violence and allows for inmates to maintain a sense of privacy and dignity in this process.
In her presentation, the sergeant also explained that two of the units are called the “Special Needs” unit. These units house inmates that have mental illnesses or need unique care. Examples of such inmates include those with schizophrenia, or the severely suicidal. These two units are kept in a separate part of the jail, away from the other units. Inmates in these units do not have any interaction with the other units. The sergeant indicated these inmates have less interaction with inmates than their counterparts in other units, and they are held in one-person cells, as opposed to the two-person cells in other units.
Later in the visit when we toured the facility, we had the opportunity to see the cells in the special needs units, and because they were empty we were permitted to step inside a cell. The sergeant showed us what she believed to be an interesting and unique feature of these cells, which was that when you are standing in the hallway you can see into the cell through the small door window, however, when you are inside the cell you can see through the window into the hallway, but you cannot see into the window of the person’s cell directly across from you. This feature of the cells, alongside the stated lack of interaction these inmates get with other inmates within their unit, shows me that the inmates who are in these cells are exposed to very little human interaction.
These inmates with serious mental health concerns are left in a small cell alone with their negative, and potentially suicidal thoughts for the vast majority of the day, which is dissimilar from the other inmates without any mental health concerns. It seems counterintuitive that inmates experiencing severe mental health struggles would be locked up with very little human interaction as a method of helping them, instead of putting more of a focus on therapy and counselling services to target the underlying mental health issues.
I believe these should be policy concerns for the government to reconsider when determining how inmates will be treated while in these detention centres, to ensure they are being treated with the respect and dignity that all human beings deserve.
