Suspicious phone calls by inmates in Saskatchewan prisons will soon be monitored.
Inmate phone calls have been recorded since the installation of a new system in June 2010. Amendments to The Correctional Services Act, however, is giving the Ministry of Corrections, Public Safety and Policing (CPSP) the right to listen to recorded conversations and use the information obtained from the calls.
“The system will enhance the safety and security of the public, employees and inmates by making it difficult for inmates to conduct criminal activities over the phone,” CPSP Minister Yogi Huyghebaert said.
The Ministry is working with the Privacy Commissioner to balance security and individual rights. Certain conversations, such as those between an inmate and their lawyer, will not be recorded.
Authority to listen to recorded calls will be based on reasonable grounds there is important information that can be obtained.
Phone calls will be recorded at Saskatchewan’s four secure provincial correctional centres.
- Fall COVID-19 vaccine guidelines are out. Here’s what NACI recommends
- Thousands of Canada’s rail workers have a strike mandate. What happens now?
- Some 2019 candidates ‘appeared willing’ to engage with foreign interference: Hogue inquiry
- Bird flu: Experts urge more surveillance in Canada — before it’s too late
Comments