Two youth 'walked away' from jail
Northern News Services
Wednesday, August 24, 2016
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Two of the three youth inmates at the North Slave Young Offender Facility "walked away" sometime Friday morning, according to RCMP and justice department officials.
The pair were spotted downtown Friday around 9 p.m. by an off-duty corrections officer and RCMP took them back to jail, police stated in a news release.
The two were in what's called open custody which means there aren't locked doors keeping them inside. Open custody is meant to serve as a less restrictive environment that promotes rehabilitation, said Chris Comeau, warden of the facility who is set to become warden of both the adult and youth jails.
Youths escaping custody is considered rare, according to Justice department spokesperson Sue Glowach.
Comeau wouldn't answer when the two youth were last seen and said that's part of a review being carried out.
RCMP stated the force was notified Friday at around 9 a.m.
Comeau said the facility was "adequately" staffed but didn't elaborate. The GNWT revealed in its budget approved earlier this year that the staff of the youth facility and the connected North Slave Correctional Centre would be merged, resulting in fewer positions.
"I want the public to know we do take our security very serious," Comeau said. "The public, the staff and inmates all rely on the corrections service to protect their safety. So our procedures our meant to ensure that safety and we're going to take the appropriate steps once this review is completed to correct any action that we need to." The youth walkout from jail came just over a week after an inmate escaped from the adult facility, an incident also under review.
