For Shauna Morgan, warden of the Vancouver Island Correctional Centre, the building’s preserved historic façade is a fitting metaphor for the prison.
Morgan loves its old-style appearance, especially the twin stone lions guarding the entrance. But they are not the real institution.
She says the real facility is composed of B.C. Correctional Service staff, 192 of them and 12 support. They are the ones who keep watch over the inmates and direct them in some of the innovative and constructive programs offered.
“What we are doing here has nothing to do with history,” Morgan said in an interview. “It’s not like we are an old building doing old things; we are an old building doing great things.
“So I take a huge pride in the staff here. This is not an easy job and it’s not for everybody.”
Morgan, who has been warden for 7 1Ú2 years, is part of a new breed of corrections officers. Today’s corrections officers — they’re not called prison guards — are as likely to be women as men and they undertake their roles with a modern sense of avocation.
Now, despite the Grade 12 minimum requirements, they are likely to have degrees in sociology or psychology. Morgan has two degrees from the University of Victoria and UBC and has worked in corrections for 26 years, beginning as a probation officer.
With the new living-unit model of incarceration, prisoners are no longer separated from the corrections staff by bars. Corrections officers are now locked in the units with the inmates, who are never left unattended.
So corrections officers have to be good communicators, but also constantly observant.
In most jobs, people can decide not to sweat the small stuff, Morgan says.
“In a jail, you have to always sweat the small stuff,” she said. “If you miss a single little thing, it can be a piece of what might be a serious concern.”
Corrections officers direct work programs such as the new bicycle repair shop, taking in found bikes to refurbish for donation to developing countries.
Unlike the old system, inmates are not required or compelled to work. But if one is spending all day in bed, corrections officers become concerned because it’s likely a sign of serious depression.
Corrections officers now have to be well aware of mental health. The proportionate number of inmates with mental illnesses has increased, ranging from addiction to severe delusional disorders such as schizophrenia.
Fred Hunt, a probation officer for three decades, said he believes the number of inmates with severe mental health issues has steadily increased.
Meanwhile, actual jail sentences are being reserved more for convicts who are deemed a hazard to public safety.
Those who are deemed no danger spend their sentences in the community under supervision with conditions such as curfews and home arrest.
“The real story for corrections in B.C. has been the success of being able to supervise people in the community,” Hunt said.
“If a person can be in a minimum-security institution, then he should probably be in the community under supervision.”