Victoria’s prisoner custody crisis worsens as police are forced to search state for cells

TOWNS in regional Victoria are at times being left without divisional police, as the state’s custody crisis worsens.

POLICE are increasingly being taken off the beat as Victoria’s prisoner custody crisis worsens.

The Herald Sun can reveal Colac was left without its only divisional unit on Friday night after two members were forced to make a near five-hour round trip to Warrnambool to transport a remand prisoner to the nearest free cell.

The man had been refused bail at an out-of-sessions hearing but there was nowhere to hold him.

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Police are being forced to drive across the state to find a free cell.

He was taken to Warrnambool and placed in the only unoccupied cell, meaning further weekend remands were not possible.

Sources say the prisoner custody system is currently at breaking point with police being routinely forced to drive across the state to find them a cell.

Victoria Police spokeswoman Leading Senior Constable Natalie Dean said on Sunday the number of prisoners being held in police cells statewide was “currently very high”.

Sen-Cons Dean confirmed two officers were required to transport a 40-year-old man from Colac to Warrnambool as a result of there being no local cells available on Friday evening.

“The local Colac area continued to provide a police service delivery to the community while this transport took place,” she said.

Victoria Police is required to manage prisoners as a result of arrests, remands or initial sentences, and to accommodate the scheduled appearance of prisoners before the courts.

The prisoner custody crisis is being blamed on a crime crackdown, with tough new bail laws resulting in an explosion in the number of remand prisoners.

It has also thrown the justice system into chaos, with dozens of prisoners missing scheduled court hearings sparking long delays in matters being finalised.

Between 2007 and 2017 the state’s prison population increased by 71 per cent.

This financial year prisoner numbers are forecast to grow by up to 1000.

The state government recently announced 473 new prison beds to be opened over the next three years, with a 700-bed maximum security prison scheduled to open in 2022.

Minister for Corrections Gayle Tierney. Picture: Kylie Else

“Our record investment in thousands of extra police, and tougher bail and sentencing laws means more people are in prison — and we make no apologies for that,” Corrections minister Gayle Tierney said.

But shadow corrections minister Ed O’Donohue said it would do little to curb the crisis.

“The justice system crisis continues with scarce police resources diverted babysitting prisoners, rather than catching criminals,” he said.

“The Andrews Labor Government is so distracted by the Fraud and Extortion Squad’s investigation into six Labor ministers that they’ve incapable of managing our justice system.”

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