Children being held in watch house because of overcrowding in juvenile detention centres

Overcrowding in the state’s youth detention centres has reached crisis point with 46 children being held in Brisbane’s watch house at its peak last week in an “extremely disturbing” trend.

OVERCROWDING in the state’s youth detention centres has reached crisis point with 46 children being held in Brisbane’s watch house at its peak last week.

The Police Union says the state’s watch houses have been turned into mini-prisons, with one child having been held in the Brisbane watch house for 26 days as of Friday.

“There is a major issue in Queensland with juveniles being held in watch houses because juvenile detention centres are full,” Queensland Police Union president Ian Leavers said.

“In the last few weeks a decision has now been made to turn more watch houses in Queensland into prisons for juveniles because the number of juveniles being sentenced and remanded is outgrowing the ability of the Department of Child Safety, Youth and Women to keep them in juvenile detention.”

Queensland Police Union president Ian Leavers. Picture: AAP/ Ric Frearson

A legal source told The Courier-Mail the trend was “extremely disturbing”, with watch houses inappropriate for long-term detention due to insufficient bedding, small confinement areas, lack of proper separation between juvenile and adult prisoners, lack of privacy in bathrooms and no outdoor or exercise ­facilities.

“We all agree these juveniles should be behind bars because they are there for offences such as murder, attempted murder, rape and other violent crimes but it is not our job to keep them behind bars in a watch house, when they should be in a prison instead,” Mr Leavers said.

“We know that we, as police, are patient and professional however sentenced or remanded juvenile criminals do not belong in watch houses.”

The overcrowding comes after the State Government changed laws to treat 17-year-olds as children rather than adults, moving them from jails to juvenile detention centres.

A Department of Child Safety, Youth and Women spokesman said the Government was working to address the demand for youth detention with increased staffing, the construction of 12 new beds at Townsville’s youth correctional centre and additional funding allocated.

“A range of operational factors apart from capacity are taken into account when deciding whether to admit young people into detention centres,” he said. “At all times the safety of young people and staff remain the highest priority,” he said.