The new $3.4 million addition to the Provincial Correctional Centre is an important step towards meeting the changing needs of our correctional system says Minister of Justice and Public Safety and Attorney General, Doug Currie.
“I am committed to ensuring our facilities are safe, secure and designed to meet the future needs and challenges of our correctional system,” says Minister Currie. “This construction project is the first phase of our long-term plan to modernize correctional facilities in this province.”
There are two adult custody facilities in Prince Edward Island, the Provincial Correctional Facility in Charlottetown and the Prince County Correctional Centre in Summerside. Both facilities need to be upgraded to address the changing profile of offenders and meet the increasing need for space, security and programming.
The new 48-bed addition to the Provincial Correctional Centre will help to improve the shortage of space. The facility was originally designed for 76 beds and later reconfigured to accommodate 96; however, on weekends the population can exceed 100.
Kim Kempton, Provincial Correctional Centre Manager, welcomes the additional space and the improved safety and security it will bring to everyone in the facility.
“This new wing is intended for intermittent offenders and day parolees,” says Kempton. “By housing them in a separate area of the building, they will no longer be in contact with the regular population of the correctional centre, they can be more closely monitored, and contraband and behaviour issues will be more effectively controlled.”
“Bringing correctional facilities to a more modern standard is necessary and important,” said Minister Currie. “This new space will greatly improve safety and security for correctional staff and intermittent offenders which is one important piece of a much larger puzzle.”
Intermittent offenders will be housed in the new wing this weekend.