Qld’s decaying watch houses exposed as danger to police, inmates

Police officers, staff and inmates are being put at risk every day by Queensland’s dangerously decaying watch houses. SEE THE SHOCKING PICS

Watch houses across the state have been found to be severely outdated and unsafe for police officers and prisoners. Picture: Supplied

The safety of Queensland police officers and staff are being put at risk every day, in every watch house in the state, a damning new report has revealed.

Every watch house across the state operating last year — a total of 62 — were found to be overcrowded, dangerously understaffed or critically unsafe to the point where prisoners could escape or severely harm themselves.

The report by the Queensland Police Union has blamed chronic under investment in facilities and staffing for the issues plaguing watch houses across the state.

It comes after the release of Queensland Police’s own review into the state’s watch houses, with investigations also occurring last year, has been delayed due to the need for “further investigations”.

QPU president Shane Prior said the need to backfill staff repeatedly caused frontline resources to be redeployed to prisoner care.

“With external reports already highlighting a backlog on nearly $130 million dollars of work in QPS buildings, our expectations were low, but what we found was shocking,” he said.

“Across the board, poor and outdated facilities, understaffing and a prisoner population inflated by the babysitting of corrections prisoners, posed serious risks to our members.

The squalid conditions in one cell

The squalid conditions in one cell

“The report exists not only to campaign for improvements to staffing and facilities, but also to provide evidence to protect our members. No member of the QPS executive or the Government will be able to say they didn’t know should the worst happen.”

Consistent overcrowding was found in a dozen watch houses, including Brisbane City, Southport, Townsville, Cairns and Caboolture.

This has led to dangerous prisoner-to-staff ratios, including at Southport, where at its worst five officers were left to manage 60 prisoners overnight.

The report also revealed many of the facilities, including Caboolture, housed juveniles for up to 30 days and there were reports they often caused major damage.

At Beenleigh watch house children and women were locked up in the same wing.

Queensland Council of Social Service CEO Aimee McVeigh said the report wasn’t surprising.

“Anyone who’s been inside a watch house knows that these environments are not fit for purpose, in many instances, they’re not even suitable for the detention of adults, let alone children,” she said.

Several of the watch houses, particularly those located in the northern part of the state, had easily escapable fencing and numerous hanging or self-harm points located throughout the cells.

The Blackwater watch house was even found to be operating without beds, with prisoners sleeping on the floor.

Watch houses across the state have been found to be severely outdated and unsafe for police officers and prisoners. Picture: Supplied

Other health and safety issues included potentially accessible weapons such as the gun safes, as well as ongoing plumbing problems, mould, inadequate cleaning, no airconditioning and even at points bodily waste covering the walls.

The report made recommendations under 20 key areas, including the need for government funding to refurbish QPS watch houses and ensure requirements are met and staff amenities are provided.

Treasurer David Janetzki’s first budget revealed only $2.5m was allocated for the watch house modernisation program, with other funding dedicated to land acquisition for future replacement of courthouses and watch houses in Beenleigh and Townsville.

Police Minister Dan Purdie refused to answer questions about the report and whether further funding would be allocated to watch houses.

Another was to define and clarify the definitions of watch houses and holding cells, along with the roles and responsibilities associated with them, with facilities such as Atherton not commissioned as a watch house.

Other recommendations include the need for QPS to establish a research and development group to assist in custody management, ensuring all watch houses are operating with minimum staff particularly for remote and First Nations communities, establish a staff-to-prisoner ratio for all watch houses that regularly exceed capacity.

Watch houses across the state have been found to be severely outdated and unsafe for police officers and prisoners. Picture: Supplied

Originally published as Qld’s decaying watch houses exposed as danger to police, inmates