Ottawa-Carleton Detention Centre in lockdown for jail-wide search

The Ottawa-Carleton Detention Centre was on lockdown Tuesday night, officials confirmed, as guards conducted a search inside the facility.

A spokesman for the provincial ministry of community safety and correctional services said the search was "a security-related matter," but declined to give further details.

"All Ontario correctional officers are issued a protective vest that may be used for personal protection during security searches," the spokesman said in an email.

The ministry also confirmed that an inmate at the OCDC was found in medical distress over the weekend and transported to hospital. That incident was unrelated to Tuesday's search, the spokesman said.

The OCDC on Innes Road has been plagued by problems in recent years with overcrowding and poor treatment of inmates.