The union protecting deputy sheriffs in Nova Scotia says the province considering reducing the number of deputy sheriffs that escort prisoners to and from court would be “risky” for the sheriffs and the public.
The NSGEU says the staffing change would mean sheriffs would be escorting prisoners at a one-to-one ratio, as opposed to a two-to-one ratio. It also says the government is holding off on filling vacant jobs until 2017.
The concerns are coming to light after a sheriff was knocked down during a courtroom episode last week where supporters of homicide victim Shakur Jefferies stormed out of the room chasing accused Carvel Clayton.
READ MORE: Chaos erupts at Halifax courthouse after Carvel Clayton appearance
Union president Jason MacLean said in a release that the province’s budgetary decision not to hire more staff increases the risk of workplace violence.
“Deputy Sheriffs have never escorted prisoners on a ratio of one to one. It has always been a ratio of two-to-one and higher if there is increased risk. We don’t believe a one-to-one ratio is safe and it puts the public and the Deputy Sheriffs at an increased risk of violence,” MacLean said.
Justice Minister Diana Whalen said Thursday that the discussion about reducing sheriff staffing was “premature,” and that they were looking at ways to respond to threats “case-by-case.”
“We said that we’re looking at ways that we may be able to respond better to threats, we wanna look at it case-by-case, and we’re doing much more rigorous threat assessment,” Whalen said.
“We didn’t do that in the past and so we just, across the board, had two people always escorting each person. That may not be necessary.”
Referring to last week’s disruption, Whalen said there were many more than two sheriffs escorting that particular prisoner and extra police were called in as well.
“I don’t think there’s anything wrong in questioning whether, in every single case, you need to have two people,” she said.
Whalen also said the discussion surrounds the allocation of resources, and that “it’s not intended to be cost saving,” adding that they currently have a competition open to hire more.
Since 2015, Sheriff Services have hired 18 new full-time members, according to spokesperson Sarah Gillis.
Gillis echoed Whalen’s statement that no decisions have been made about the proposed staffing change and that they’re looking at using “resources most effectively.”
“In some cases this will mean increasing the number of deputies assigned to a person in custody. We want to ensure that we are responding appropriately to each case based upon the assessments and all available information,” Gillis said in an emailed statement.
She added that in addition to bringing on new deputy sheriffs, 40 staff members have been trained in using tasers.
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