Regina youth centre to get security upgrades

The Paul Dojack Youth Centre in west Regina is getting some security upgrades.

In January, a request for proposals closed for work on security upgrades at the facility, including things like replacing doors and frames, along with locking hardware and upgrades to the associated electrical systems.

According to Noel Busse, a communications person with the Ministry of Justice and Corrections, the upgrades aren’t arising out of any specific incident at the facility.

“It’s just, kind of, routine maintenance to make sure that things are as functional as they should be,” he said.

He compared it to owning a house—you don’t necessarily replace things only when they’re broken, sometimes there are just better or newer things that come along or something goes past the age where it should be replaced.

There are two types of custody at the centre—open custody where youth might leave during the day for things like school and community programs and then come back in the evening, and secure custody facilities which are locked units.

Between April and August 2019 inclusive, 28 youths escaped or were unlawfully at large from open custody, whereas only one escaped secure custody in the same period.

The improvements at the youth centre are being done along with improvements at correctional facilities across the province, totaling about $3.8 million.

The ministry wouldn’t divulge details about exactly what was being done in the upgrades, where or when, and when the last time such upgrades were done, citing security reasons.