‘There could be a death in custody’: Queensland Police Union sounds alarm over watch house overcrowding

Extreme overcrowding in Queensland’s watch houses is at breaking point with the state’s police union warning there would be a death in custody if the problem was not urgently solved.

Queensland Police Union vice-president Shane Prior. Picture: Evan Morgan

Extreme overcrowding in Queensland’s watch houses is at a crisis point, with the state’s police union saying there would be a death in custody if the problem is not urgently solved.

Five years after the Queensland government claimed it was “solving the problem” of locking children in maximum security adultwatch houses, dozens of youths are being held for extended periods because of chronic bed shortages at the state’s three youth detention centres.

Mount Isa watch house was at 129 per cent capacity this week, with 11 young people sharing four cells, Queensland Police Union vice-president Shane Prior said.

“Nine of those had been in there for at least four days when they should have been in the custody of corrective services,” he told The Weekend Australian.

“The reality of that situation is that they’re sleeping on mattresses on the floor, and you can probably expect that there would be some tension around that.

“So that then in turn puts police at risk when they’re attempting to break up scuffles and maintain proper surveillance. I have to say the union is very concerned that there could be a death in custody.”

Mr Prior, a detective senior constable, said it was likely the youths would remain locked in the watch house, rather than be at a youth detention facility, over the Easter long weekend.

With similar capacity problems in Cairns and Townsville, Mr Prior said, police were being pulled from the frontline to do the job of other government agencies.

“Police need to be out there ­policing the community – watch houses are not childcare centres and police are not childcare workers,” Mr Prior said.

“Don’t get me wrong, these offenders are alleged to have committed serious offences; for a magistrate to hold someone in custody is significant.

“But they should be in a facility designed for long-term custody with all the appropriate services that go with it.”

Capacity in youth detention has been an ongoing problem for the Labor government since 2018, when it decided to move 17-year-olds from adult prisons into the juvenile system.

That decision has led to more children being held in watch houses and for longer periods of time.

The problem has intensified since the government introduced youth justice laws, making the breaching of bail con­ditions an offence and removing the presumption of bail for repeat offenders.

Legislation was rushed through parliament last year to allow youths to be detained in watch houses, in response to legal action launched by a Cairns-based youth organisation that argued the practice was unlawful.

Construction on a new 80-bed youth detention centre began at Woodford in February but will not be finished until late 2026.

A separate 40-bed centre at Cairns is expected to be completed by 2027 while a 50-bed “remand facility” is being fast-tracked at Wacol, west of Brisbane.

A government spokeswoman said the Queensland Police Service closely monitored capacity figures and “transfers between watch houses and detention facilities are instigated, when needed, to appropriately accommodate the operations of the watch houses and safety of those in custody”.

“Where watch houses are experiencing high prisoner numbers, QCS advises they make every ­effort to facilitate higher numbers of receptions,” she said.

The youth justice department is responsible for transferring juvenile offenders.