Kingston Penitentiary

Peter: 20th Apr 2006 - 13:30 GMT

wow, awesome! good thing for you you were just passing by ;)

an interesting read: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingston_Penitentiary

Peter: 20th Apr 2006 - 13:37 GMT

also: www.csc-scc.gc.ca/text/facilit/institutprofiles/kingston_e.shtml

EvilGentleman: 27th Apr 2006 - 15:38 GMT

As you can see in the first pic, any prisoners attempting to escape will have a mop bucket and a squeegee thrown at them. I think that would hurt a lot, especially if it's still full of water when it hits. And those squeegees sometimes have sharp edges...

EvilGentleman: 7th May 2006 - 00:41 GMT

The shots with the sailboat also show Olympic Harbour, where the sailing events for the 1976 Montreal Olympics were held. Just imagine the view the guards must have had from the watch towers.

Linda: 23rd Nov 2006 - 03:40 GMT

I really liked the shots.I look forward to taking a drive out there myself. I am actually going to school right now in order to work in the field of "Corrections". I might want to work in Kingston, after I get some experience in the other facilities.

:): 10th Dec 2006 - 00:21 GMT

Linda KP is a good place to get your feet wet if you suceed in your goal.

jess: 26th Dec 2006 - 19:42 GMT

just thought id let you know that the kingston Penitentiary is haunted... if you go to season 2 of creepy canada it gives you the ghost story... just thought you would like to know, i found it interesting

ron m: 5th Mar 2007 - 20:44 GMT

I was working at KP when the olympics were on and you couldn't "Buy" a posting in any of the towers, it was reserved for all the"Bosses Kids".

sue george: 22nd Aug 2007 - 22:31 GMT

my grandfather was assistant warder circa 50,s his name was Thomas Curry Cook would like to hear from anyone who knows any of my family in Canada. Lived in Bellevue as far as I know.
E-Mail srgeorge@hotmail.co.uk

Michelle: 2nd Jan 2008 - 13:44 GMT

If you really want to learn more about the history of KP -- obtain a copy of the February/March, 1991 issue of "The Beaver" Magazine which details life in the prison during the 1840's. The article is titled "So Irksome and So Terribe" by Peter Hennessy.

! : 14th Jan 2008 - 00:33 GMT

im am currently doing a school project on kingston pen. if anyone has any interesting info please let me know !

thankss .

chanze: 9th Mar 2008 - 21:49 GMT

i was in kingston this weekend and that place is huge and scary looking i would hate to be in there!

jamie: 27th Mar 2008 - 16:18 GMT

I love old prisons and I was in Kingston recently and got some pictures of this place...I wish they did tours of the inside, but that would not be safe...very interesting history of this prison.

richard: 31st Mar 2008 - 21:51 GMT

the rats jump up from the toliots bad dirty old shithole

anon (bas4-kingston08-1177944934.dsl.bell.ca): 15th Apr 2008 - 01:36 GMT

I live in Kingston and the building is just as scary as it looks. when you walk passed it you feel the strength of it's walls.

dirana1: 16th Apr 2008 - 22:52 GMT

You have got to be kidding me. Does anyone out there know the history of the place? It was British, you at least have that much right. However, it was originally and continues to this day to be a prison; most of which was built by the prisoners living within it. The reason we don't (Because I work inside as a guard, front line staff) do tours is just that, as 'Jamie, 2008' stated, it's too dangerous. Everyone must remember that it is a 'maximum security prison' for men, not that women are any less dangerous, but men have that nuance of being worse. As for '!' from 14 January 08, if you're doing a project on KP, I'd be happy to talk to you, as long as my 'real' name isn't used. It's a frightening place, and it's also a haunted place, but those of us, like myself, who have been there for a time, and I'm a newbie by all means at 10 years there, we've come to grips with that which we see, and that which we feel and that which we know is there, and we still continue to walk through those opposing front gates and go to work, to keep everyone outside those large limestone walls safe from the horrors inside them. Take care, All the Best.
Others call me Dark Cloud at work.
TTFN

dirana1: 16th Apr 2008 - 23:04 GMT

PS EvilGentleman, there's more to a tower at KP than an mop and a squeegee believe me, I myself would have a couple of rounds of the indigenous firearm in the tower fired if someone tried to go over the wall when I was on duty in a tower. You may want to find out a little more information about the institution and the people whom go there every day to protect the Canadian public before saying something like that. I don't disagree with what you are saying, I'm just saying there are those of us, and I am only taking responsibility for my own words as a Correctional Officer, that take huge offense to what you are saying. We're not well equipped by any means, and yet, like Canadian Soldiers in any theatre of operations, we get the damn job done to the best of our abilities. If no one likes what I say, I really don't care, because I've done ten years of being a Correctional Officer, a female in a male jail, and I'm retired Military and proud of it. You want to take a walk inside, maybe you should talk to me, and I can tell you something that happened outside those stone walls that changed my life forever.

EvilGentleman: 17th Apr 2008 - 19:21 GMT

dirana1, thank you for commenting. I can respect your opinions and your insight into the prison is a welcome bit of education for the rest of us. I am certain you know a lot more about the background of KP than the rest of us, unless there are a few former inmates reading this as well.

As far as your being offended by the squeegee and bucket joke, tough cookies. Grow a thicker skin, I refuse to change for anyone. But just to put it in context, it is obviously a joke that uses irony to defuse a serious issue, since any fool knows that you guards at KP have to be heavily armed with deadly weapons. I mean, it is a maximum security prison, after all, and most of the people inside have done some really horrible things to wind up in there. I am thankful for the job that you and the other guards do, and I will continue to crack jokes about things, because that is a central part of my personality.

Smile. I know you need to keep some aggression with you in order to better survive your work environment, but please leave it at work.

It would be interesting to trade stories with you one day at a local watering hole. My experiences do not include very many people of the caliber that you work with, but I have 6 years experience guarding prisoners at the local jail in a small village in the northernmost reaches of Arctic Quebec. The jail most often functioned as a drunk tank, but we sometimes got some rough trade in there. Mind you, my prisoners were only allowed out of their cells with police escorts. Compared to a fully trained and qualified Corrections Canada Correctional Officer, I am sure my work was more like semi-advanced babysitting, but I can at least understand the general concepts of which you speak.

The prisoners who had the worst reputations for being psychotic always behaved themselves very well around me, and I believe that was due to the fact that I neither feared them nor looked down on them, which earned me some respect, among both prisoners and police. They used to ask for me by name, in fact. This was despite the fact that I was the strictest guard for following the rules. But the "quiet" customers were the ones who would drive me up the wall, as they would sometimes go completely berserk, and do the damndest things.

I did have one prisoner go a little haywire and extremely aggressive one time, when the Quebec Minister of Justice dropped in for a visit. Mind you, when government ministers decide to visit prisoners in jail, they should expect these things. But that is why cells have bars on them. Well, at least they did in the old jail. The new one has steel and security glass walls.

I never had a prisoner escape from me, although the other guards had lost a few on different occasions. Being in an isolated Arctic community with no highways, I never understood the point of their trying to escape, since there is nowhere to hide.

I did have a few attempted break-ins, but that is a different story. Being a small police station with two one-man cells (that once had to hold nine prisoners), there are always problems with people trying to bust in and steal the drugs from the evidence lockers.

I had to guard female prisoners sometimes, so I can appreciate some of the difficulties you may have faced, although I am sure a woman who is in jail for 1 to 10 days is nowhere near as sexually aggressive as a man who is serving life. But I still got some bizarre propositions every once in a while.

I grew up on Canadian military bases, usually living in officers' PMQ's. My family has a strong military background in both the Canadian and American militaries, with a lot of war experience. I personally was a Mohawk Warrior during the Oka Crisis of 1990, and wound up faced off against a number of my childhood friends from the bases I grew up on. They are still in the military today, and are still close friends of mine. One of them is hoping to be accepted for his third tour in Afghanistan. And to cap it all off, my wife is an ex-cop.

So if you want to talk to me one day, I am up for it. I am sure it would be an interesting conversation, and although I may not have the specific set of experiences you have had, nor dealt with the level of aggression that you have (although I have stared into the barrel of an assault rifle held in the hands of someone who truly wished me dead), I am pretty sure we can find a good number of things in common to discuss.

And once again, thank you for your work.

Airdog101: 1st May 2008 - 23:00 GMT

dirana1, i was wondering if you or anyone else would be able to give me some insight on how to become a Correctional Officer. Was there any special schooling you go through or did you do sometime in the military?

thanks,
Aaron

EvilTinkerbelle: 12th May 2008 - 07:19 GMT

PFFFTTTTTTTTTTT. kingston pen SUCKS ASSS !!!...im happy im done with that place

cat: 26th May 2008 - 18:59 GMT

dirana1, I was under the impression that they had closed off a section of the pen. and they had tours open to the public, am i wrong?

Big Dog: 6th Jun 2008 - 12:40 GMT

Ha! KP is not open for tours. As for becoming a CO (CX1), you just have to keep an eye on the federal government web site (jobs.gc.ca). Positions are usually only posted for a couple days. All you need is a high school diploma and some kind of experience dealing with the public (i.e. security guard) and you'll advance to the written testing. A related post-secondary degree helps your score. Get through this phase and you do the sit down interview. Pass that and you begin the three month, unpaid, Core Training Program. Graduate from 'Core' and they place you at an institution. I'm a guard at KP and enjoy it. The money's good and the staff's friendly. It can be stressful at times, but if you have good coping skills and thick skin you'll be fine. I've never seen a ghost but I have heard some stories...

Bob Smith: 11th Jun 2008 - 19:11 GMT

KP has amazing walls, anybody who's escaped deserves a metal!

Pete: 2nd Jul 2008 - 15:10 GMT

Question for Big Dog, or Dirana, im a recent university graduate interested in applying to be a guard. MY previous roommates would smoke marijuana and i have concerns about it being in my system. Im looking at applying for a current position but I am concerned about this. MY question is whether or not I would be screened for marijuana? Thank you