Measures are being put in place to stop overcrowding in the state's watch houses, with some operating at more than 200 per cent capacity, which the police union says is a 'death in custody waiting to happen'.
Some of Queensland's busiest watch houses are operating at more than 200 per cent capacity, forcing police to fly prisoners to other locations in the state's south east.Prisoners are expected to be flown to other areas but lawyers say those other watch houses are already stretched
"With the assistance of QGAir, approximately 40 persons will be transported throughout the week from over-capacity watch houses in the north, to watch houses in south-east Queensland, which currently have capacity," the spokesperson said. QPU president Ian Leavers described the overcrowding in watch houses as a "death in custody waiting to happen", and said prisoners could not get adequate care if watch houses were full."We know with the watch houses, when they are over 100 per cent capacity, we cannot provide the adequate care that is required.
"We have a responsibility to segregate certain prisoners for various reasons and we've been unable to do that and carry out our duty of care because we are being set up to fail and it's a death in custody waiting to happen," Mr Leavers said.Gold Coast defence lawyer Michael Gatenby told the ABC there were already capacity problems at Southport watch house.
The lawyer said it was "often bewildering" why some people were kept in custody and there was a "failure by a lot of police to exercise discretion" when making arrests."Over the past 12 months or so there has been an approach where if the jail is full, courts have been more moderate with the granting of bail," Mr Gatenby said, adding that was not always good for people who might have otherwise been kept in custody.
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