Construction is now underway to build the new Okanagan Correctional Centre in Senkulmen Park on Osoyoos Indian Band land just north of Oliver. Corrections BC staff were in Oliver and Osoyoos last week to provide information and talk to residents who might be considering applying for a position as a correctional officer at the jail. (Lyonel Doherty photo)
If you have good communication skills and enjoy interacting with people, then being a correctional officer might be your calling.
That’s the hope of Corrections BC, which hosted information sessions in Oliver and Osoyoos last week.
About 45 people attended the Oliver Community Centre on October 8 to determine if a career in corrections was the right fit for them. Approximately the same number attended the Osoyoos session.
The media was not permitted to attend the Oliver meeting for reasons that were not made clear by corrections staff.
But Tedd Howard, provincial director of capital projects, said they are very pleased with the response so far.
Howard noted they saw a “good mix of folks” turn up for the meeting, which outlined the culture of corrections and the safety and security of officers inside the facilities.
“Our goal is to make good connections with the right people,” Howard said. “The bottom line is to help them decide if this is the job for them.”
He pointed out that the job of a corrections officer is primarily communicating with inmates.
“People who enjoy interacting with people generally will like the job.”
Howard said 35-40 per cent of correctional officers in B.C. are female, noting that a lot of women enjoy this type of work.
Prerequisites include a Grade 12 education, Class 5 driver’s licence, a proficiency in English and being physically fit.
Howard said candidates are put through a physical ability test so they can demonstrate they won’t be “huffing and puffing” when responding to an emergency. Howard stated that 60 per cent of correctional staff at the new prison would be transferred from other facilities, while 40 per cent will be new hires.
The ministry is expected to hire between 250 and 270 full-time correctional officers to work in the new jail once construction is completed in late 2016 or early 2017.
For more information, visit www.pssg.gov.bc.ca/corrections/ or email [email protected].
LYONEL DOHERTY
Special to the Times
