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Ombudsman to investigate Ontario's response to strip-search by jail guards in riot gear
Ontario's ombudsman says its office will investigate the province's response to a strip search of inmates by jail guards in riot gear at Maplehurst Correctional Complex in December 2023.
In a news release on Monday, Ontario Ombudsman Paul Dubé said the investigation into the ministry of the solicitor general's response is due to public concerns about transparency, accountability and inmates' rights.
The strip search followed an assault on a correctional officer at the complex in Halton Region, which holds nearly 1,500 inmates in medium and maximum security. Members of Maplehurst's Institutional Crisis Intervention Team (ICIT) were involved.
During the two days in which ICIT correctional officers were deployed at the jail, the ombudsman said inmates in unit 8 were stripped to their boxer shorts, forced to sit on the floor and face the wall with their wrists zip-tied, while correctional officers in tactical gear conducted patrols behind them.
"Several inmates and members of the public have contacted us to express concerns about the treatment of inmates by the ICIT over two days in December 2023," Dubé said in the release.
"The Ministry has already investigated the incident. What my investigation will cover is the steps the Ministry took as a result, and what it is doing to make sure something like this does not happen again."
The Ombudsman received about 60 complaints about the Maplehurst strip search, including from inmates directly involved in the incident. The ministry has finished its internal investigations of the matter, the release said.
Subsequently, judges who raised concerns about the incident have reduced the sentences of some of these inmates, according to the ombudsman. In one case, the prosecution argued that an inmate's rights under Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms had been violated during the strip search.
"When an incident occurs in an Ontario correctional facility that impacts the administration of justice and the rights of inmates, it is imperative that we understand why it happened and what is being done to ensure that it does not recur," Dubé said.
According to Dubé, the investigation will also look at what safeguards can be put in place to prevent a similar incident. The investigation will not look at personnel or disciplinary matters concerning individual correctional staff, he said.
