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

Dylan: 28th Jul 2008 - 13:06 GMT

Kingston pen surely isnt open for tours.. when you go to visit yur family.. that gate makes you feel like your not leaving. AND YES YOU WILL BE SCREENED FOR DRUGS!! they will even drugtest your hat. plus the visiting room has this microphone that looks like an upside down cake tin.. so dont be silly

Pat: 14th Aug 2008 - 16:52 GMT

I worked at KP and I would have to say it a very different

bfuman: 20th Aug 2008 - 03:34 GMT

trust me when i tell you kp is not the place you want to call home for any length of time, parole violaters get a one or two night stay over from the don in toronto, but when they leave kp for there designated "new home" they all and i meaan all thank God, they aint spending another ten minutes in there....it is the worse the absoult worse. BUT dont forget to be housed in such a hell hole you as well must meet the guidlines of being the absoult worse as well, kp do not house "GP" or anything below maximum classified inmates,,,,just the sick ones the real sick ones.......take care.

Hey who know's?: 12th Sep 2008 - 15:11 GMT

Hey who knows the mailing address for kingston pen?

oui: 27th Oct 2008 - 04:20 GMT

Kingston Pen
560 King St W
Kingston On.
K7L 4V7

Yes it is haunted, and to EvilTinkerbell I am glad we did our job, and you don't plan on comming back.
Pete, your not screened for drugs in your system when you apply so far. If you get a criminal record because of using, then you can kiss your job good bye.

rehs: 12th Nov 2008 - 19:55 GMT

wondering if anyone has a phone # for this jail.... theres a guy inside there thats using my name to get credit and large loans! It took a bit of doing but I found out he's in there! And I am also wondering how he can apply for this "credit" from inside??

jo jo: 6th Dec 2008 - 23:38 GMT

my husband in Kp and its not as terrible as the oyther ones i do conjecal and spend time and he s not in there cause hes a rat or a goof just maximum offender and its not scary its a walk in ther park so dont dis it

EvilGentleman: 7th Dec 2008 - 00:00 GMT

Thanks, jo jo. Your insights explain a lot of things about maximum-security prisoners and their spouses that I had always wondered about. Now I know.

WILLY: 9th Dec 2008 - 21:48 GMT

can you tell me how to find out which range someone is in and if you are sending them a letter do you need to know that information? thanks

ferguson.179978c: 22nd Feb 2009 - 15:42 GMT

rtc. the psychiatric unit of kp is an awesome place to do time..the coppers are all ok and the nurses are mostly great except the nazi kane

bub: 2nd Mar 2009 - 18:24 GMT

Diran1, I'd be interested in hearing what happened there to change your life. KP has particular meaning to me.

curiousgeorge: 30th Mar 2009 - 15:17 GMT

i was wondering what happens to child molesters in kp...i have heard in jails prisoners torture or kill offenders like that..what is life like for THOSE offenders?

dooowhopbopbadoowhop: 31st Mar 2009 - 19:29 GMT

Tell me the ghost stories, I'm in the process of getting a job and the possibilty of ghosts scare me...... ??????

Peter: 31st Mar 2009 - 20:29 GMT

dont worry, ghosts arent real... OR ARE THEY? :-0

John_S: 22nd Apr 2009 - 19:23 GMT

curiousgeorge....to youtr question...ya diddlers dont have a nice time, but having done a 10-bit myself for "respectable crime" if there is such a thing, I realised that the armed robber that kills a bank teller aint no hero cause he shivs a diddler. You sometimes hear bout "put him in gereral pop...they'll take care of him as if they are good guys. They ain't. The hard ass that kills a cop, a teller, sticks a neighbor or does a million dllar fraud aint no here cause he ices a diddler

jean: 3rd May 2009 - 14:23 GMT

this place kp is rat infested shit hole for rats and goofs and didlers if you are in on a bad beef they send you to that goof jail

mf1967: 9th May 2009 - 11:51 GMT

My ex is in KP serving 12 years for attempted murder, and he has told me lots of stories of drugs being sold in there, and ever since cigarettes have been banned they are also being smuggled in and sold. If the visitors are searched thoroughly, and so are packages, then how are these drugs getting in? There have been investigations of KP guards in the past, one of which killed himself due to the fear of ending up in prison himself. I'm sure that the majority of the staff at KP is legit, but obviously the drugs and cigarettes are getting in somehow.

On another note, I was on the phone with another inmate’s girlfriend, on a three way call.. She met her new boyfriend while visiting her ex who is doing time in KP. The new love of her life is serving a life sentence with no possibility of parole. She has moved with her kids to Kingston in order to be closer to him. Do some people really have no brains? How is a so called mother, going to uproot her kids for a man like that, with which she obviously will never actually be able to have a life with outside of the prison walls? I don’t get it!
Sorry just had to vent!
(By the way I have never visited my ex, despite numerous requests for me to do so, nor would I! He’s in there for a reason, and I would not waste my time to visit, nor even to write to him. He calls me with a calling card.)

toxic: 9th Jul 2009 - 05:08 GMT

well i now know that place aint closed though i thought it was if not haunted why the story of the guy who killed gards then him self? an why do they say theres tours if theres not? one last question what horrors really happend an happen in front of KP

did time too: 20th Aug 2009 - 10:12 GMT

Spent a many nights and days behind those for walls. 8 yrs.Reid wash your mouth. you goof.
I did my time in the mid sixties till the riot then was moved to diasyland,CB
Yeah after KP became a max again, housing even our undesireables. It was hell on earth then and I don't believe its any different now.
When my bed was down you could just get in, up on the hook I stand with my arms out and touch each wall palms flat.
the sitter was at the foot of the bed, your knees touched the sides of it as you crapped, I learned to sit to P*ss, because it would splash back on the bed.
We had the great prison radio to listen to at night. I was one of the lucky ones they had not gotten around to doubling my cell before the riot.
You be an ass, you got the ass guards on yea..... hell they were only glorified babysitters. let them do their 8 hrs in peace you got it back in peace.
tentions will always boil, no where to walk away from it or avoid it. you do what you have too, to live another day.
One thing KP gave me and thats the will to stay out....
or should I say the riot did that for me.

One last thing the days of solids is long gone .... got a nephew inside in Millhaven and its all punks now, do you think guards are super intelligent, far from it, kites and rats. They are every where. Even in the Biker World, read the papers.

Ps, there are ghost in KP, noises and cries in the nights, souls lost friends killed themselves.

Believe it................

anon (CPE00222d1e482d-CM00222d1e4829.cpe.net.cable.rogers.com): 23rd Sep 2009 - 20:43 GMT

my husband is in for two months for one beer my god life is crazy hes done 21 years got out 2007 march i met him from my brother ha now have a baby boy now 6months cant wait till hubby gets out november 30 yeay

Does it work?: 30th Sep 2009 - 23:08 GMT

I sawin one of this guys comments that he was from KP. So, I guess it worked. I don't know
http://www.youtube.com/chargedconvicted

Diane C Spitz: 16th Oct 2009 - 21:22 GMT

If anyone has any old photographs from the Kingston Pen circa early 1900's I would love to see them. My Grandfather was employed there and the family lived across the street form the place. My son works in Corrections in TX and I know he would love to know more about the history of the prison. I would love to hear from any Carrigans, Mills, or Davenports living in the Kingston area. Thanks. dclspitz@yahoo.com