Assaults on correctional staff at the Kamloops Regional Correction Centre hit an all-time high in 2018.

The BC Government Employees Union says there were 26 reported assaults on jail staff last year.

Vice president of Corrections and Sheriff Services Dean Purdy says there is a trend of increasing violence at all seven maximum security jails in B.C.

“That’s a big concern for us. I’ve said this before, that working in a maximum-security jail is already one of the most stressful jobs out there. And with violence levels on the rise, it adds to what is already a very tense time inside our jails,” Purdy says.

“We know that 95 per cent of the violence is conducted by three-to-five per cent of the inmate population. We’ve given the government a suggestion on how they need to change the model on how they need to house inmates, and manage inmates.”

Purdy says another issues is the inmate-to-officer ratio, which has ballooned in B.C. jails and at worst is 1-to-72, at jails in Surrey and Oliver.

“This government inherited this problem over the last 16 years. Because prior to 2002, the officer-to-inmate ratios were capped at one-to-20. Everytime that number went above 20, we had two officers in each living unit.”

Purdy says he has met Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth twice already this year to discuss measures that can be taken to reduce violence in jail.