Inmates released from prison disproportionately call Edmonton home afterwards, according to a recent report to city council.
It’s partly because Edmonton is home to a large number of correctional facilities: Edmonton Institution, the Remand Centre, and various medium- or minimum-security institutions. It has one of the highest rates of correctional institutions per capita in Canada, the report outlines.
“Edmonton is the city of the jails. There is, without a doubt, correlation of the people staying here in relation to that,” said Edmonton Police Service Chief Dale McFee.
Edmonton’s police chief admits the concentration of jails becomes an issue when inmates from across the country housed in the capital region are released without adequate supports.
McFee says that leads to them re-offending, ultimately impacting crime rates in Edmonton.
In addition to the five prisons or jails in Edmonton, inmates from Bowden Institute, just one hour north of Calgary, are driven two hours to be released in Alberta’s capital.
“It’s not fair that the Edmonton taxpayer has to shoulder the burden for all of the social ills and challenges and burdens for all of the rest of Canada,” said Ward papastew councillor Michael Janz.
The report to city council shows there are more than three times the number of inmates being released in Edmonton than Calgary. Edmonton’s inmate capacity is 3,405, which is 306 per cent greater than Calgary’s at 1,111.
The report suggests the concentration of inmates adds extra pressure.
“That’s not saying we should close them down,” said Coun. Janz. “It’s saying we should be properly supported for having them.”
Janz also says the rate of recidivism is too high.
“Too many people end up re-offending,” he said. “And that says to me they are not being properly supported when they are released.”
Janz is calling for better funding from the province and federal government.
CityNews reached out to the Alberta Justice and Public Safety Ministry, which both declined to comment. They referred us to the Correctional Service of Canada, which did not immediately respond.
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Janz and McFee agree the justice system needs to adapt.
“Why are we just really releasing people to the street, rather than trying to build a plan with them to actually… what are you going to do to get back on track, or where’s the accountability mechanism?” the Edmonton police chief said. “And those people that are actually those extreme dangers that we know and there’s risks to them.”
“I think there’s some new things that can be done there. Quite honestly, I don’t think we can just blame it on the fact that because we have a jail makes our crime bad. … What is the mechanism that we can do on these incidents where people get stranded here, left here because of coming out of a correctional centre?”