Prison staff assaulted at a rate of almost one a day amid teen violence crisis
Innocent jail workers have been assaulted by violent teen thugs at an alarming rate, with one attack occurring almost every day. Terrified staff members fear it could only be a matter of time before someone dies.
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Caged teenage thugs have launched 220 assaults on staff in one prison in just eight months.
Two jail workers — one on his first day in the job — have been rushed to hospital since last Sunday, the latest in a long catalogue of vicious bashings.
The Herald Sun has been told the Department of Justice and Regulation’s own records reveal a shocking rate of almost one assault a day on staff at the Parkville Youth Justice Centre in Melbourne’s inner north, between September last year and April this year.
The incidents ranged from pushing and spitting to terrifying bashings of officers in an environment where insiders say there is no respect.
Violent incidents are by far the biggest source of employee injury at Parkville, easily outnumbering falls, strains and sprains.
“Are we waiting for someone to die?” one officer asked.
A staff member who tried to help a bashing victim on Sunday wound up in hospital when the teenage inmate turned on him.
The next day, a worker on his first day of active service was bashed at Parkville.
Insiders say an already volatile atmosphere there has worsened recently due to increasing friction between inmates of African and Pacific Island backgrounds.
A taskforce of union representatives, WorkSafe officials and youth justice experts has been set up to try to find ways to reduce the number of assaults on staff.
Fed-up Parkville staff last month finally cracked, refusing to accept a young inmate’s transfer from an adult prison.
The teenager has a horrific history of up to 10 assaults on staff, including one in which a female worker was “scalped” when bashed with a guitar.
The Youth Parole Board deemed him too dangerous for juvenile detention, and he was returned to an adult jail.
There were other dramas in February when another teen climbed the roof of a supposedly secure unit which had been upgraded in the wake of earlier rioting.
Members of the Safety and Emergency Response Team, a group of officers which specialises in managing incidents, are said to be particularly vulnerable to attack at Parkville.
This is because they are viewed by inmates as a high-value target.
Staff at the Malmsbury Youth Justice Centre in central Victoria hold the same concerns about their safety.
One person who has visited Malmsbury in an official capacity said staff felt helpless in the face of aggression.
“They are too scared to challenge, due to the fear that they will be physically assaulted,” the source said.
One day in April this year started with an inmate inciting violence and threats against senior staff.
A staff member was later assaulted and a SERT member was punched in an unprovoked attack.
Tensions are often elevated by high levels of worker absenteeism, forcing detainee lockdowns. There was chaos during one such lockdown this year when frustrated teens confined to their units flooded them, self-harmed, urinated on floors and threw meals back at staff.
Some staff have been angered by directives to clean graffiti at Malmsbury while issues of violence and intimidation remain.
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A Department of Justice and Community Safety spokeswoman said all allegations of violence were referred to police.
“Violent and dangerous behaviour at youth justice centres is absolutely unacceptable, and the safety of staff, young people and the community is of the utmost importance,” she said.
New laws that strengthened consequences for teens that assaulted youth justice workers were in effect, she added.
These create a “presumption” that sentences for crimes committed behind bars will be on top of the existing period of detention.
The two staff assaulted at Parkville this week were treated in hospital and sent home the same day.