Queensland Prison Guards to be Fitted With Cameras as Jail Overcrowding Continues
Photo: ABC News Alkira Reinfrank.
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BODY-WORN security cameras will be issued to Queensland’s prison officers in a bid to curb assaults and collect better evidence.
The first batch of 10 cameras will be allocated to staff at the Brisbane Correctional Centre on Monday, with a further 100 to be rolled out across the state in the coming months.
The devices are similar to those used by Queensland Police, which are capable of storing nine hours of high-quality footage.
Union officials have complained of increasing assault rates in prisons, and recent occupancy figures show the facilities are more than 22 per cent over capacity.
Corrections Minister Mark Ryan would not confirm whether there had been a spike in assaults, saying “assaults go up and down all the time”.
“If you look at it over a period of time, you will see peaks and troughs of assaults in correctional centres,” he said.
“What matters is we are rolling out additional measures to keep our staff safe and these cameras will assist with that.
“We’re dealing with people with complex needs, people with mental health needs and we would be naive to think that unfortunately there would never be any assaults in prisons.”