Security classifications to blame for prison riot: union
THE CHAPEL, sacred sorry business building, security offices and control rooms are among the buildings damaged in the “war zone” of the riots at the Darwin prison
Northern Territory
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THE CHAPEL, sacred sorry business building, security offices and control rooms are among the buildings damaged in the “war zone” of the riots at the Darwin prison.
On Wednesday night, 21 prisoners broke out of their cells in the medium security part of the prison and climbed onto the rooves of multiple buildings within the jail’s grounds.
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90 corrections officers called in to help with riot, which is now a major police investigation
A source from within the prison system said two officers were injured in the incident, including one who fainted from heat exhaustion and had to have his uniform cut off him, after officers were forced to use gas to control the inmates.
“Because they were on the roof, they were throwing anything they could get their hands on,” the officer said.
“If one collected an officer, it had the potential to cause serious harm. There were a lot of missiles coming off the roof.”
The source said officers were disappointed Corrections Commissioner Scott McNairn appeared to “downplay” the incident.
“The fact that he’s said no force was used, it’s just not true. It was a major incident,” the source said.
For a while there, it was possible (we) were going to lose control.
The source said the classification system, which sorts prisoners into different security levels, was shown to not be good enough.
“It comes back to the classification manual being inadequate and it’s putting the public at risk,” they said.
“We had 10 low remands involved with these 21 prisoners — it shows the classo manual is majorly flawed.”
United Workers Union secretary Erina Early echoed the source’s concerns about the state of the classification system but praised those on the ground on Wednesday night, including the 90 officers who showed up when called in to help.
“If not for the professional and swift action of highly trained Correctional Officers, the NT public would be reading different story to what has been reported so far in the NT News,” she said.
“We can’t and should not underestimate the huge task taken to maintain control with minimum resources available to them.”
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Ms Early also thanked the police, paramedics and firefighters who attended.
A spokeswoman from the Department of the Attorney-General said the Commissioner was not aware of any injuries to officers as there had been no formal reports and there was “no threat to public safety” on the night.
“No security system failed during the disturbance,” she said.
“The staffing on the night was appropriate and in line with the roster.”
Originally published as Security classifications to blame for prison riot: union