Month: January 2022

The Famous Name Tag

The CSC issued name tags to all of their staff members in the 1990s. This was done at the same that the Service Industry Uniforms were issued. The staff members last name was printed on the tags and they were to wear it at all times while on duty.  A friend of mine for a..

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Institutional Response Team Member Badges

In Part 42 of West Yard under the title “IERT Team Leader Suspension” I mention the badges that I had made for my Team Members.  Pictured below is one of those badges within a wallet and the business cards that I had printed for the Team all at my own expense.  At that time the..

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Gas Billy

The Lake Erie Chemical Co. Cleveland Ohio “Gas Billy” 1930’s. Capable of firing one round of CN gas munition. The device is now classified as a prohibited weapon in Canada as it can fire a 12ga shotgun shell with a minor modification to the barrel. The Gas Billy was around in the 70s and 80s..

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Second Shot Accurate

The Gas Gun or Chemical Agent Launcher was considered second shot accurate in my time. It was made to launch a variety of gas munitions in different dispersal formats. It could fire a cloud of dust, a single projectile rocket like gas missile (these had stabilizing fins on it to control its flight), a scat..

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Keeping it on the Inside

The newspaper articles below were published on the day following the 11 April 1997 Prison Riot at Collins Bay Institution. This is the Riot that I wrote about in part 24 of West Yard. This is the riot where the deputy warden reported to the papers that the staff “didn’t have to use force” to..

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The Towers

Collins Bay Institution was opened in 1930. The main construction material used in that period of time was local lime stone, some of it quarried from the surrounding area. The turrets surrounding the towers were all constructed from lime stone blocks and they were incorporated in the towers as a cover should the prison come..

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Cell Extraction to Recover a Weapon

In Four Block the cell doors were opened individually with a key as seen here. The Response Team is entering the cell in this photo to remove the weapon pictured below from an inmate who was using it to threaten others.  The shank is made of aluminum. Being a non ferrous metal it would not..

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Collins Bay Institution West Wall

The West Wall is the location that Tyrone Conn placed his home made ladder and then used an extension cord to lower himself down to freedom. He laid at the bottom of the wall when the Mobile Patrol drove right past him with the length of cord clearly visible still hanging from the top of..

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Old East Yard Shack

This was the “East Yard Shack” in Collins Bay when I first started in the early eighties. It was not used in my day and sat vacant through out my entire time on the Inside.

One Block “The Ghetto”

This is One Block “A” Range just before its demolition. You can see on the right hand side of the photo historic damage from the riot in 1997 where the inmates used the locking bars off of their cells to destroy the cell block walls.