African Mafia members spark uprising in jail

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This article was published 05/05/2010 (5608 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

MEMBERS of the African Mafia street gang caused a minor uprising at the Headingley Correctional Centre overnight Monday, forcing the jail’s crisis negotiation team to go in and contain the melée.

Nine gang members smashed furniture and one inmate suffered a cut to his hand during the incident that began about 8:20 p.m. Monday night and continued to early Tuesday morning in a basement unit.

RCMP are now investigating the riot.

Headingley superintendent Greg Skelly called the staff response "outstanding."

"It was contained right from the get-go," he said, adding the rest of the prison was locked down during the incident.

Skelly said the cause of the incident is still under investigation.

No damage estimate was available Tuesday.

The jail had 753 prisoners Tuesday, significantly more than the approximately 485 male inmates the jail is meant to hold.

Block 10, where the incident happened, houses members of the African Mafia street gang who are either carrying out their sentence or in remand awaiting time in court. They live in the oldest part of the jail.

Ken Crawford, Manitoba Government Employees Union corrections staff representative, said because of the latest incident, seven cells are unavailable for prisoners while repairs are underway. He said that puts further stress on an already overcrowded facility.

"Somebody’s going to get hurt," he said.

"Our correctional officers continue to carry the burden of a system that is not keeping up."

Crawford said he wants to see more investments in prison facilities by the government.

"They were in that unit for a reason, now we have to figure out somewhere else that we can put them. It’s really dangerous," he said.

gabrielle.giroday@freepress.mb.ca