COMMISSIONER'S DIRECTIVE

OPERATIONAL REQUIREMENTS FOR CROSS-GENDER STAFFING IN WOMEN OFFENDER INSTITUTIONS

Policy Bulletin 203

POLICY OBJECTIVES

1. To ensure that the dignity and privacy of women offenders is respected to the fullest extent possible consistent with safety and security.

2. To ensure cross-gender situations in the workplace do not expose staff or offenders to vulnerable situations.

AUTHORITY

3. Corrections and Conditional Release Act, subsection  4 (h) and sections 47, 48 , 49 and  53.

CROSS-REFERENCES

4. CD 081 - Offender Complaints and Grievances;

CD 566-4 - Inmate Counts;
CD 566-5 - Non-Security Escorts;

CD566-6 - Security Escorts;

CD 566-7 - Searching of Inmates;

CD 566-9 - Searching of Cells, Vehicles and Other Areas of the Institution;
CD 567-1 - Use of Force;

CD 600 - Management of Emergencies;

Policy Bulletin 186 - Harassment;
Program Strategy for Women Offenders (2004) ;

Mental Health Strategy for Women Offenders (2002); and

Recommendation 5 (b), Commission of Inquiry into Certain Events at the Prison for Women in Kingston (1996).

DEFINITIONS

5. Cross-gender: For the purpose of this policy, cross-gender refers to male staff working with women offenders.

6. Living units: The houses (including the Structured Living Environment) and the women offender unit at the Regional Psychiatric Centre. Living units do not include cells or pods in the secure unit or the segregation unit.

7. Secure unit: A unit that houses women offenders classified as maximum security.

8. Paired staff members: Two employees that must be within sight and sound of each other at all times.

9. Voluntary nudity: When a woman offender spontaneously removes her clothing or covering to expose a private body part.

PRINCIPLE

10. A reasonable degree of privacy is essential for human dignity. Protection of privacy interests is a mutual responsibility of all staff, contractors, volunteers, and offenders.

RESPONSIBILITIES

11. The Institutional Head shall:

1. ensure that a reference to this policy is included in the Inmate Handbook and that the Handbook emphasizes offenders' responsibility for conducting themselves appropriately with all staff;
2. ensure that during the orientation and intake assessment process, newly admitted offenders receive a copy of this Commissioner's Directive and have an opportunity to have questions addressed;
3. ensure that the Inmate Handbook emphasizes that offenders are encouraged to bring privacy issues to the attention of institutional management (for example, by speaking to a staff member or through the offender complaints and grievance process, Inmate Committee, Office of the Correctional Investigator or Canadian Human Rights Commission);
4. ensure that all staff members, contractors and volunteers receive a copy of this Commissioner's Directive;
5. immediately review any allegation of sexual misconduct or harassment to determine how to proceed (the Institutional Head shall also inform the Deputy Commissioner for Women, as soon as possible, of the allegations); and
6. bring any relevant issue that is not covered in the policy to the attention of the Deputy Commissioner for Women through the Regional Deputy Commissioner.

12. All staff must be sensitive to dignity and privacy issues and to situations that could:

1. be perceived as or have the potential to lead to allegations of inappropriate conduct; or
2. lead to either staff and/or offenders being vulnerable to false allegations of harassment or other impropriety.

13. Staff and managers who are aware of, or made aware of, a situation involving an allegation of inappropriate conduct towards an offender must take immediate action as identified in the harassment policy. (Policy Bulletin 186 - Harassment)

OPERATIONAL REQUIREMENTS FOR CROSS-GENDER STAFFING

Note: Operational requirements for institutions with women offenders are established as per the applicable Commissioner's Directives for all institutions. Additional, or clarifications to, operational requirements pertaining to cross-gender operations for women offenders are provided in this Commissioner's Directive.

Security Patrols

14. After curfew, until at least 0700 hours, all male staff shall:

1. be paired with female staff for all security patrols in the living units; and
2. be within sight of a female staff (camera or direct observation) at all times when conducting security patrols in the secure unit or the segregation unit.

15. Except during curfew hours, all male and female front-line staff shall announce their entry into the living units, secure unit and segregation unit.

16. Paragraphs 14 and 15 are not mandatory in the event of an emergency (e.g. a distress call from an inmate in a house). In such cases, if the first response is by male staff, female staff will be deployed to assist as quickly as possible.

Cells Equipped With Cameras

17. Only female staff shall monitor offenders under camera surveillance. Monitor screens will be situated in posts in such a way as to ensure the offender's privacy.

Searches

18. Frisk searches shall always be conducted by female staff. A frisk search may be conducted in the presence of a male staff member.

19. In accordance with Commissioner's Directive 566-7 - Searching of Inmates, "[...] a male staff member will, under no circumstances, conduct or witness the strip search of a female inmate, but will contain the situation until such time that female staff members arrive to conduct and witness the strip search."

20. Strip searches shall be videotaped only by female staff.

21. Both male and female staff can conduct non-intrusive searches of female offenders and searches of institutional areas.

Health Services

22. Physical and mental health professionals will be deployed consistent with community health care standards and can intervene consistent with their professional function, regardless of gender.

Programs

23. Subject to the criteria for effective program facilitators outlined in the Program Strategy for Women Offenders, programs may be delivered by qualified men or women.

24. In programs where there are gender sensitive components (e.g. survivors, abuse or trauma issues), female facilitators are preferred.

25. For vocational programs, other programs or employment where the supervisor is a man, the area shall be included in security patrols.

Escorts

26. A non-security escort may be conducted by a man or a woman. Due consideration will be given to the following factors prior to assigning a male escort:

1. the nature of the escort;
2. whether the offender is comfortable being escorted by a male escorting officer; and
3. whether the escorting officer is comfortable conducting the escort.

Escorts Within the Institution

27. Non-correctional male staff who are required to work in a living unit or the secure unit (e.g. maintenance, stores or canteen staff) will be escorted by a male or female staff member/contractor unless there are no offenders present in the unit while they are working.

Management of Emergencies

28. All staff, regardless of gender, may use the appropriate level of physical intervention, consistent with the Situation Management Model, to control and restrain offenders when faced with an emergency where there is an immediate need to intervene.

29. If the first response is by male staff, female staff will be deployed to assist as quickly as possible.

Use of Force

30. The first response to a situation requiring pre-planned use of force will always be a women-only team.

Voluntary Nudity

31. In cases of voluntary nudity, where staff have reasonable grounds to believe that there is an immediate risk of harm to the offender, to other offenders or to staff, available staff may intervene, regardless of gender. A blanket and/or security gown will be provided to the offender as soon as possible.

32. In cases of voluntary nudity where the offender is non-compliant with verbal direction to clothe herself and there is no immediate risk of harm to herself, to staff or to other offenders, male staff shall remove themselves from the area as soon as the safety of staff, the offender and other offenders is assured. An assessment of the offender's mental status shall be conducted to develop and implement a situation specific intervention strategy.

33. In addition to an offender's past history, her actions/behaviours and the situational context must be assessed to determine the immediate risk of harm. Some examples of such contextual factors include:

1. the offender has a weapon with which she is threatening to self-injure;
2. the offender is banging her head on the wall or otherwise harming herself;
3. the offender is threatening to commit suicide and taking action (such as knotting a sheet) that indicates the threat is real, or the attending psychologist assesses that there is a high risk of suicide;
4. the offender is threatening to assault someone else and is in a position to do so.

Review of Videotapes

34. Managers, regardless of their gender, who are accountable for ensuring staff's actions are in accordance with policy and procedures, may review videotapes of incidents (including strip searches). The reviews will be conducted in a way that respects the privacy and dignity of the offender(s) as much as reasonably possible in the circumstances.

Commissioner,

Original signed by
Keith Coulter

Table of Contents