LOCK-UP ON HIGH ALERT
City’s busy police shuffling arrests around for overcrowding drama
Internal police alerts show watchhouses across the Gold Coast are “dangerously” full with cops running out of room to offload detainees, in some cases multiple times per week.
On Tuesday the Logan District watchhouse had to issue a capacity notification to police stations across the southeast.
The internal document, obtained by the Bulletin, revealed the lock-up had run out of space by lunchtime.
“Attempts to transfer prisoners to neighbouring W/H’s has been unsuccessful due to their own capacity issues,” the alert states.
“If prisoner is violent attend W/H immediately.”
The Logan District is part of the South Eastern Police Region for which the Gold Coast District is also a part of.
Police sources say detainees should have been shared between the region and offloaded to Southport or Coolangatta.
“They (Southport) are dangerously full so they can’t take prisoners or they’ll end up like Logan,” an officer told the Bulletin.
“It’s a perfect storm. Youth centres are full and they’re (juveniles) being held in the watchhouse. One example at Southport, they had a kid for three weeks.”
It’s the latest development in a spiralling staffing crisis gripping the Gold Coast Police District as reported by the Bulletin.
Police beats at the city’s two largest shopping centres have been cut, stations are regularly understaffed and unable to put cars on the road.
The situation has sparked an internal revolt within the rank and file. It coincided with the resignation of police commissioner Katarina Carroll four months before her contract was due to expire.
The Bulletin has obtained a number of capacity alerts issued since January which appear to show Southport and Logan have, in some cases, run out of room in the cells multiple times per week.
Staff claim they’re driving hours to off-load detainees at other facilities, which is leaving less vehicles on the road to attend call outs.
“There are watchhouses here (Gold Coast) for a reason. To hold arrests here so we can get back to doing our job,” a police source said.
“It is not normal to drive from Palm Beach to Richlands to lock someone up or vice versa.”
Officers claim they’ve been struggling to manage demand since late last year when watchhouses across the state faced dangerous overcrowding. Mt Isa watchhouse had hit 219 per cent capacity by October, Townsville was at 178 per cent while Cairns was about a quarter over its allocation.
Queensland Police Union president Ian Leavers labelled the situation “disgraceful” and called for urgent action to avoid deaths.
“In what sort of world is it acceptable to allow watchhouses to exceed 100 per cent capacity?” Mr Leavers said at the time.
The state government intervened and began shifting detainees to other facilities which included Southport.
It’s a death in custody waiting to happen an unnamed GC custody officer
The old Coolangatta lock-up was taken out of mothballs to manage overflow arrests.
“Leavers made the right call, it was better to have everyone share the load, than a few watchhouses that are stuffed,” a Gold Coast custody officer said. “It should have been a short term solution while they (government) came up with a better plan.
“They haven’t done anything and we’re filling up statewide. It’s a death in custody waiting to happen. It’s a matter of when.”
Concern of overcrowding at the Coast’s watchhouses are growing after the Queensland Police Service revealed earlier this week how many detainees were being held at Coolangatta. Gold Coast Chief Superintendent
Craig Hanlon said on Monday the site could house ‘about a dozen’ inmates. The lock-up was reported to have room for just three people in 2019.
The QPS later clarified the lock-up had capacity for seven inmates. However it was unable to say how it could fit the prisoners in a facility designed to take half that number.