Inadequate staff training to blame for Cleveland Youth Detention Centre riot, report finds

A 12-HOUR youth detention centre riot that caused $145,000 worth of damage could have been avoided if staff had been properly trained, an investigation has found.

A MAJOR riot at Townsville’s Cleveland Youth Detention Centre could have been avoided if police had been called in earlier, a review has found.

An investigation by the Office of the Chief Inspector into the 12-hour riot found unprepared staff didn’t follow workplace plans, lacked training and were slow to respond when a cancelled football game sparked the fracas on November 10 that caused more than $145,000 worth of damage.

Youth on the roof of the Cleveland Youth Detention Centre in Townsville during the 2016 riot. Picture: Domanii Cameron

The report found that a decision was taken that police were not required when inmates climbed onto a roof fuelled by anger over the cancelled game and when a radio broadcast of the riot was made.

“Given the increasing levels of infrastructural damage being caused by the young people, the young people refusing to engage in negotiations, arming themselves with makeshift weapons and making threats of harm to staff along with insufficient numbers of staff to be able to safely restrain the large number of young people involved in the incident, QPS involvement at this time is likely to have supported a safer and more timely de-escalation and resolution of the roof top incident,” it said.

“… The timing of the QPS notification resulted in significant delays in containing and resolving the riot.”

Inmates armed themselves with weapons, including metal bars and wooden planks and some climbed onto a roof for two hours.

Four staff members were injured, one losing sight in his left eye, and others are experiencing ongoing psychological impacts.

The Cleveland Youth Detention Centre in Towsnville.

The report said staff responding didn’t call for help fast enough even though they were woefully outnumbered, didn’t properly follow procedures, didn’t have enough personal protection equipment (PPE) to keep them safe and some didn’t know how to use the equipment anyway.

“There was insufficient PPE for all responding staff; not all responding staff who were issued with this PPE were training in or familiar with this equipment and there was no clear operations or tactical direction given to staff regarding its use,” it said.

It said “deficits in training” meant staff were not adequately prepared and equipped to safety quell the incident.

Among the six recommendations made is the need for a safety and security review of infrastructure, fittings and fixtures, focusing on anti-climbing structures and impenetrable ceilings and roofs for containment.

That’s despite the fact the centre was significantly redeveloped and expanded as recent as January 2015.

A review of workplace culture was also needed, as well as acknowledgement that ambulance and police must be called in when safety is threatened and staff are outnumbered.