‘Systemic issues’ prompts police watch house review

[Pelican Press 0]

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‘Systemic issues’ prompts police watch house review

A comprehensive internal review of all police watch houses in Queensland will be undertaken amid “systemic issues” identified by the service.

Commissioner Steve Gollschewski has outlined a review into how Queensland’s watch houses are designed, provisioned and operated with a commitment to ongoing reform.

It will also address police training levels and establish a new governance arrangement for watch house operations.

The review will be led by Deputy Commissioner Cameron Harsley, who is tasked with looking into current and future needs for watch houses and identifying improvement areas.

Queensland has 63 watch houses that process more than 75,000 alleged offenders each year.

The estimated amount of hours spent by people within these facilities is expected to rise by seven per cent in 2024, up to about 3.8 million hours.

There have been 42 complaints at watch houses in Queensland this year with 101 allegations raised, Mr Gollschewski said.

An indigenous teenager was reportedly forcefully detained by police southwest of Brisbane at a watch house and struck with a baton after spending days there in 2023.

That incident has been investigated by the Ethical Standards Command but Mr Gollschewski conceded the system is under pressure.

“As the Queensland population grows and the police service increases its numbers and our proactive policing, the demand placed on our watches watch houses will continue to intensify,” the commissioner said on Tuesday.

“I acknowledge there are end-to-end systemic issues in our watch houses, and the whole system is under significant pressure.

“Once an offender comes into a watch house, it is our responsibility to treat them with dignity, respect and effectively manage them while they are in our care.”

The service has committed to an independent health and wellbeing assessment of each watch house with both the commissioner and deputy commissioner acknowledging that some facilities are outdated.

Officers within watch houses will this week begin wearing body-worn cameras to enhance the security of workers and detained persons, Mr Harsley said.

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