New Jail to be Built in Surrey
By 250 News
The Province will build a new secure, state-of- the-art corrections facility adjacent to the existing Surrey Pretrial Services Centre and connected by tunnel to both the courthouse and police station, Solicitor General Kash Heed announced today.
Surrey was selected as the best location for the 180-cell facility after thorough evaluation against a number of criteria. Key considerations included project costs, zoning, environmental impacts, accessibility to major transportation routes, site services, project completion date, preservation of the agricultural land reserve and expansion potential. Surrey was identified as one of four possible sites by a committee of metro-Vancouver mayors.
"Our government has made increased jail capacity a pillar of our seven-point gangs and organized crime strategy" said Heed.
Remand populations are on the rise everywhere in Canada. In 2008-09 the remand population increased to an all-time-high annual average count of 1,429 - an increase of 69 per cent over the average remand count five years ago. The government's co-ordinated guns, gangs and organized crime strategy has resulted in 135 organized crime and gang members being arrested with approximately 350 serious offences since the strategy was unveiled in February. Increasing jail capacity is a key part of the government's seven-point gang and organized crime strategy, which balances the need for greater enforcement with more funding for anti-gang educational efforts to stop young people out from joining gangs.
Construction of the new facility is expected to be completed by 2013. It is part of an overall capital plan worth $185 million - the largest in the Corrections branch's history. The new pretrial centre in Surrey will result in 180 new cells in the Lower Mainland.
Provincewide, through a variety of construction projects at a number of facilities, a total of 304 new cells, or a 19 per cent increase in capacity, is being added. The construction associated with these projects will generate about 200 new jobs.
This past spring, the Province also invested $38.3 million of infrastructure funding for upgrades to correctional centres around B.C. This investment is over and above the $185-million corrections capital plan.
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Posted by: Howrd_B_Stern on October 7 2009 6:09 PM
By locating the "new" prisons in the territories we would see several positive effects.
First: the local indigenous would have a viable industry to be employed by. The spin off effect should be less social issues like alcohol and drug abuse. It would also be a fair opportunity for them to be assimilated into white society through a para military training program.
Second: Once a prisoner has spent a term through the two months of black fly summer and eight months of blizzard, I sincerely doubt they would want to return. Freezing one's behind off for five years should cure any future criminal intent.
Third: security. With nothing but a few thousand kilometers of open tundra with associated wildlife like polar bears, escape would be near impossible. Any that tried it would no longer be a concern.
Fourth: more security. escapees would not be able to harm locals, because there are few locals to harm and are spread out over a huge area. The locals also carry guns and are not afraid to use them for self-protection.
Fifth: economic stimulus for the north. With spin off support industries, communities would prosper in the territories.
I say, DO NOT BUILD IN SURREY OR ANY WHERE NEAR A MAJOR MUNICIPALITY. BUILD ALL NEW PRISONS IN THE TERRITORIES. In fact, build enough to completely replace all the prisons that are not in the territories.
Relatives can make it a major excursion to visit their incarcerated relatives and friends. Added bonus, incarceration tourism. Who visits their incarcerated associates that often anyway.
It would also make it easier to control contraband.
Quit making the prison system a holiday and make it a true deterrent to a life of crime.