The boss of the Queensland Police Union, Shane Prior, has blamed Queensland Corrective Services for overcrowding in watch houses across the state.
Last week it was revealed a man was granted bail after allegedly punching a police officer in the face, on the same day Brisbane’s city watch house was “at near capacity”.
New data obtained by Nine News reveals all watch houses in major centres were over capacity this Monday: the city watch house at 115 per cent capacity, Townsville at 120 per cent, and Cairns at 103 per cent.
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“This comes down to Queensland Corrective Services simply not doing their job and picking up their prisoners,” Prior told Nine.
“Police are being placed at significant risk [by] the overcrowding that’s currently plaguing our watch houses.”
The majority of those being held in watch houses are corrections prisoners – those who have been refused bail or have not yet returned to jail after a court date.
At Brisbane City, on Monday, 76 per cent of those in custody were corrections prisoners, at Richlands 85 per cent and at Caboolture, the juvenile holding facility, just 8 of the 29 prisoners were fresh QPS arrests.
“Watch houses are not prison day care centres… this is a farce and something needs to change,” Prior said.
In a statement, Corrective Services Queensland said under current legislation they have 21 days to receive prisoners from watch houses, claiming the vast majority are received within 7 days.
Corrective Services Minister Laura Gerber is waiting for a QPS review into watch houses to be handed down before considering any changes to the law.
Police Commissioner Steve Gollschewski acknowledged the system is “under pressure”.
“Clearly we have a lot of people in our custody that we would like not to be there, particularly young people,” he said.
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