Jailhouse chock-a-block

Glitter Strip ice addicts packing out the state’s prisons

OVERCROWDED jails are costing the taxpayer $1.45 million a day as the ice epidemic on the Gold Coast triggers a spike in prison numbers.

Authorities are opting for expensive quick-fix options like trundle beds and mattresses as the state’s jails operate at 118 per cent capacity.

To ensure cells are safe and sealed to prevent contraband, Queensland Corrective Services installed 30 bunks at the Brisbane Women’s Correc- tional Centre at $10,000 a bed.

About 8000 released prisoners are breaking parole, being forced back to jail adding $40 million in a year to the taxpayer bill.

Prison sources and criminologists are linking the prisoner population explosion to the ice epidemic which has caused a surge in violent assaults on the Glitter Strip.

The Queensland Parole System Review report found the system is in crisis due to failures of parole. A prison source said overworked probation officers were unable to make personal visits and check on the health of thousands of paroled prisoners located between Burleigh and Southport.

“The large percentage are violent drug offenders. That’s why we are seeing so many repeat offenders back into the courts,” the prison source said.

Queensland has experienced a 42 per cent increase in prison numbers from 5604 to 7938 from January 2012 to September last year.

Methamphetamine users account for an increasing proportion of offenders of all kinds, but programs to help them are underfunded and not readily available.

“The lack of such programs puts the public at risk,” the parole system review report said.

Bond University criminologist Dr Terry Goldsworthy said: “I think (the increase) is a flow-on effect from getting tough on crime, that both the LNP and Labor are pursuing.

“You have an increase in the crime rate (on the Gold Coast) and if there’s more crime happening, you have more people going to jail.”

Opposition corrective services spokesman Tim Mander said the Government’s response was building a $200 million facility in central Queensland for 165 beds.

“That’s over a million dollars a cell,” he said. “There is no doubt overcrowding is an issue. There’s been an incredible amount of assaults on officers.”

In his report, Walter Soronoff, QC, said the system was not doing enough to prevent reoffending by prisoners.

“In my opinion there is a lot more that can be done to increase community safety, improve the lives of offenders and encourage them to lead more prosocial lives going forward,” he said.

Prison numbers in Queensland are expected to reach 9000 by 2021 while built cell capacity remains at just more than 6000.