State’s watch houses groaning as 6200 juveniles locked up with hundreds kept more than week

More than 6200 children were detained in the state’s watch houses over the past year, with five as young as 10 kept for six hours and two boys detained overnight. SEE THE LIST

The Brisbane watch house detained 778 people aged between 10 and 17 in the past year.

More than 6200 children were detained in the state’s watch houses over the past year with five as young as 10 kept for six hours and two detained overnight.

Across the state, 210 juveniles aged between 13 and 17 were detained for more than a week.

Police Minister Mark Ryan revealed the shocking figures which also showed Cairns watch-house detained the highest number of juveniles with 844 kept under lock in the past year to September.

Brisbane watchhouse followed closely, detaining 778 people aged 10-17.

The data was released after questions from Maiwar MP Michael Berkman, who introduced a Bill to state parliament last year to raise the age of criminal responsibility to 14.

“Medical evidence shows 10-13 year olds don’t have the neurodevelopmental capacity to control impulses or foresee and understand consequences, so criminalising them like adults doesn’t work,” Mr Berkman said.

“In fact, early contact with the criminal legal system has been shown to increase a child’s likelihood of reoffending.

“We need to invest in solutions that work, not more prison cells.”

More than 6200 juveniles were detained in watch houses across the state in the year to September.

Across the state’s 38 major watch houses there were 6261 youths detained, an average of 165 at each.

The majority of youths were detained in the southeast watch houses of Southport, Toowoomba, Ipswich, Richlands, Caboolture, Maroochydore, Redcliffe, Logan and Pine Rivers.

Noosa Heads watchhouse had the lowest number of juvenile detentions with five youngsters locked up over the year.

In the southeast, Ipswich watch-house recorded the highest number of juvenile detainees with 454 kept under lock for at least six hours.

Bayside watch houses had fewer juvenile detentions with 32 at Wynnum and 96 at Cleveland, where a youth was detained and charged in 2021, outside the survey period, after a hit-and-run killing Alexandra Hills couple pregnant Katherine Leadbetter and her partner Matthew Field.

The figures were tracking downwards in Logan where a team of police and youth justice workers have helped kerb juvenile offending since 2020.

There were 138 youths detained in Logan over the year, compared with 139 in Redcliffe, 169 in Caboolture, 116 in Pine Rivers and 232 at Richlands.

Mr Ryan said it was standard operational policing practice for a young offender to be detained in a police watch-house before their first court appearance and while awaiting placement and transportation to a youth detention centre.

“Where bail is not granted and the young offender is remanded in custody or the child has been sentenced to a period of detention, the Queensland Police Service aims to hold the child for the shortest possible time before admission to a youth detention centre,” he said.

“It is important to note that from September 1, 2021 to June 30, 2022, 81.8 per cent of watch-house stays for a young offender was 48 hours or less.”

Youth Justice Minister Leanne Linard said her department worked closely with police to ensure young people are not held in watch houses longer than necessary.

“Given the regional and remote nature of many communities, sometimes it takes the police time to transport young people to detention centres based in Townsville or Brisbane,” she said.

“Longer stays have always occurred in regional or remote communities, as it is impractical to transport a young person to a detention centre and then have to return the young person to the regional or remote location as required by the court.”