(1) Solitary confinement in dark cell, with or
without bedding, not to exceed six days for
any one offence, nor three days at any one
time.

(2) Bread and water diet, full or half rations,
combined or not with No. 1.

(3) Cold-water punishment, with the approval
of the visiting physician.

19.In the absence of the Superintendent of
Police, the Gaoler or officer in charge of the
Gaol, shall have authority summarily to
confine any prisoners, for misconduct, in a
solitary cell, or to place irons upon his hands
and feet should he find it necessary; such
restraint not to extend over a longer time
than is necessary to bring the matter before
the Superintendent of Police, or, in his
absence, before a Police or Stipendiary
Magistrate, or of any Justice of the Peace
when there is no such Magistrate.

20. Any person who may be found interfering
with the discipline of the prison shall be
excluded from the prison as a visitor.

21.A book will be kept by the Gaoler, in which
the conduct of prisoners shall be registered
daily, with a view of obtaining a mitigation
of punishment from the proper authorities
in cases meriting reward.

C. Todd

Superintendent of Police

By order

The Prisons Report included several suggestions
to improve gaol operations:

« The cost of maintaining chain gangs was
impractical. Work done by inmates was
viewed as not worth the cost of guarding
them and the cost of tools and materials used;

a Chain gangs were viewed as a deplorable sight
in the city;

a The decayed state of the gaols at Victoria and
New Westminster was noted;

« It was suggested that the government
consider building a new gaol outside the city
of Victoria; and

» Kamloops Gaol was viewed as inadequate for
housing sentenced prisoners because the
fence around the gaol was too low to allow
open air exercise.

The importance of religious programs to
prisoners was recognized by the inclusion of a
chaplain’s report in the first Prisons Report. This
report also met the need for administrative
accountability in monitoring staff and inmate
behaviour.

Superintendent Todd included in this report an
account of the gaols and lockups in the
province. Lockups were operating in Esquimalt,
Cowichan, Comox, Burrard Inlet, Mission,
Lytton, Clinton, Kamloops, the Okanagan,
Osoyoos, Quesnel, Stanley, Richfield and
Cassiar District (one at Laketon and one at
McDame’s Creek). Gaols were located in
Victoria, Nanaimo and New Westminster.

The hierarchy of authority and discipline
associated with the British Columbia Police
force extended to gaols and lockups. Staff hired
for the gaols were often current or former
police officers, which reflected the emphasis on
discipline and control. The provincial police
inspector, who was also an employee of the
Provincial Gaol in Victoria, was responsible for
administration of the gaol system.

22

Corrections in British Columbia