Winnipeg Free Press
WINNIPEG — Thursday’s fatal accident that killed a corrections officer has raised the question of safety during inmate transport in Manitoba.
Rhonda Commodore, a provincial corrections officer, was thrown from a van during an inmate transfer Thursday morning. The 44-year-old was a passenger in the van when it slid into the ditch, rolled and came to rest inside the tree line about 45 kilometres south of The Pas. Slippery conditions were a factor in the accident, RCMP confirmed.
The driver, a 43-year-old man, also a corrections officer, was taken to hospital in stable condition. The six inmates who were being transferred from The Pas to Dauphin were treated for minor injuries.
Provincial corrections vans are equipped with seatbelts for the driver and the passenger. It was not known if Commodore was wearing a seatbelt. There are no seatbelts available for inmates, who are otherwise restrained during transport, in the vans.
“The safety of both the correctional officers and the inmates is everybody’s concern,” said John Hutton, executive director of the John Howard Society of Manitoba, an organization that monitors the well-being of current inmates and the reintegration of former inmates into society.
“These transports often run five days a week around all parts of the province and fortunately, accidents are quite uncommon.” Hutton calls the seatbelt issue “a tricky one to navigate,” as the circumstances of seatbelt use in the vans is undermined by the reality of the inmate’s situation.
Full story: Corrections-van crash reignites safety issues