Watchouses in crisis with daily capacity issues, overcrowding

Gold Coast police officers fear there could be a death in custody as a special investigation by the Bulletin reveals just how crammed the lockup have become. Full details

Beat cops fear they’re at risk of a death in custody as watchhouses across the Gold Coast and Logan overflow with prisoners and hit capacity nearly every day.

An investigation by the Bulletin, with the help of police whistleblowers and leaked internal documents, shows that between Sunday, February 2 and Monday, February 10:

• Southport watchhouse had capacity issues at least nine times
  
• Logan watchhouse overcrowded four times and had capacity issues on two other occasions.
  
• Coolangatta lockup was full with seven prisoners almost every day.

The internal police watchhouse capacity notifications show the strain on the system when one facility runs out of room and the cascading effect it has on neighbouring lock ups.

On Sunday evening, February 2, a watchhouse capacity notification was issued to police across the Southeast at 9.48pm when Southport had run out of spare cells, with 69 prisoners in custody.

Less than an hour later the flow-on affect hit the neighbouring watchhouse in Logan, forcing it to issue its own capacity notification at 10.35pm with 16 prisoners in custody.

“When Southport (watchhouse) is full we have to drive offenders up to Logan so it’s typical that once the Coast is full they’re not far behind,” a Gold Coast officer told the Bulletin.
The following morning at 6am, the strain on the lockup continued with 67 adults and two children still held in Southport. Coolangatta lockup was also full with seven adult prisoners. Conditions were also crowded at Logan watchhouse. The facility which has a capacity of 16 detainees, but had 17 adults and one juvenile in custody.
“Logan are stuffing extra prisoners into their holding and exercise cells, they’re then left with nowhere to move other detainees to exercise, ” a police source said.

“The public would obviously be of the view that who cares, right? You commit a crime then you don’t get to complain about being locked up in s**tty conditions.

“On the flip side, when you have that many people staying for extended periods in places that are not prisons it heightens the risk of illness and injury or it’ll end in a death of a child. None of us should be forced to wear that risk, it’s not our job.”

Logan watchhouse which is built to house 16 prisoners was at times holding up to 21 people.

The strain on the lockup continued across the following days – conditions were the most critical at Logan where on Monday, February 10, it had 21 prisoners in custody. Two of the inmates were offloaded to hospital.

Former Gold Coast detective and leading criminologist with Bond University, Dr Terry Goldsworthy, placed the blame squarely on political leaders.

“This is a legacy issue from the previous Labor government that failed to strategically plan for demands within the criminal justice system,” he said.

“After years of weakening the criminal justice system, the former government toughened bail laws for youth offenders and yet it had done nothing to plan for the increased demand in the detention of youth people awaiting their court matters to be finalised.”
Dr Goldsworthy believed calls from police to fast track construction of new watchhouses were not necessary and the current facilities should have sufficient capacity to deal with prisoners.

“My concern would be that these establishments are being used in effect as temporary correction centres to hold youth and adult offenders due to a lack of capacity in the proper correctional centres,” Dr Goldsworthy said.
“Police should never be placed in the position of having to decide not to detain someone simply based on a lack of capacity to do such. Decisions to detain should be based on seriousness of the offence, likelihood of reoffending and safety of the community.”

Bond University Criminologist Dr Terry Goldsworthy (left) said Gold Coast watchhouses should have enough capacity. Southport MP Rob Molhoek (top right) and Labor police spokesman Glenn Butcher (bottom).

Southport MP Rob Molhoek, who in Opposition campaigned strongly to improve facilities, said he was concerned not just about capacity but redeployment of police officers when numbers on the ground were short.

“The previous Labor Government failed to plan and invest in critical infrastructure. There is a Queensland Police Service Review underway into watchhouses across the State and it is due to be delivered by the end of March this year,” he said.

Opposition police spokesman Glenn Butcher denied the overcrowding was caused by the former Labor government and blamed the LNP and its new ‘Adult Crime, Adult Time’ legislation for the issues.
“David Crisafulli failed to properly consult experts. He failed to plan for what capacity would be required in watch houses and detention facilities,” Mr Butcher said.
“It’s about time David Crisafulli stopped acting like the Opposition and started governing. If watchhouses are at capacity, the government must tell Queenslanders why.”
In a statement a Queensland Police Service (QPS) said watchhouse face “daily fluctuations” in the number of prisoners held.

“Capacity figures are closely monitored and transfers between QPS watchhouses, Queensland Corrective Services (QCS) facilities and Department of Youth Justice (DYJ) Youth Detention Centres are instigated when needed to appropriately accommodate the operations of the watchhouses,“ the QPS spokesman said.

“Watchhouses situated at Southport, Coolangatta and Beenleigh adequately service the needs of the Gold Coast and Logan Districts.

“There are stringent policies and procedures in place to safeguard all individuals in custody, including juveniles, and officers undergo regular training to manage risks and respond appropriately to any medical or welfare concerns.“

Originally published as Watchouses in crisis with daily capacity issues, overcrowding