A senior police officer working at the Cairns watch house says officers “cannot meet” basic expectations to care for children in custody – including supplying regular food and toilet paper – amid severe overcrowding in the far north Queensland lockup.
The Queensland government last year suspended the state’s Human Rights Act to allow the indefinite detention of children in adult police holding cells. The government said it was necessary to address “immediate capacity issues” in the state’s youth detention system.
But conditions in the Cairns watch house have deteriorated in recent weeks, Guardian Australia understands, partly due to an influx of adults in custody.
Last week there were 14 children in extended police custody in Cairns, including one who had been kept in the watch house cells for 18 days. At one point, four children shared a single cell.
“It is as bad as I’ve ever seen it,” said one worker, who asked not to be identified.
On 10 January, a child was charged with assaulting a police officer in the watch house cells. The boy, 15, was accused of throwing hot coffee on an officer during breakfast.
Later that day Sergeant Damien Taylor, who was stationed at the watch house, sent an email – sections of which have been seen by Guardian Australia – to various agencies complaining of “unrealistic expectations” on police at the watch house, and proposing that staff from external agencies be brought in to provide necessities to children.
“The juveniles have been extremely hard to deal with and disruptive to watch house staff all DEMANDING snacks and all kinds of items,” Taylor wrote in the email.
“They have also been covering their cameras in cells all shift as well.”
Taylor requested external agencies be brought in to “engage with them all shift, feed them, and give them snacks they request that watch house staff cannot always do, due to the busy nature of the watch house”. He also suggested external workers supply “toilet paper and activities”.
“I believe this would enable care to juveniles expected by external agencies. Watch house staff cannot meet this expectation.
“It would also reduce the number of assaults on officers.
“Today alone over a two-hour period we had over 10 fresh arrests, with court running and having to also do fingerprints and release persons whilst also assisting external agencies. Watch house staff cannot just stop and deal with juvenile needs as they demand it.”
The Queensland police service said in a statement that it was working with corrective services “as a matter of urgency … to support the short-term pressures and identify long-term solutions”.
They said capacity issues were managed by “transferring people between watch houses where needed to ensure the safety, health and welfare needs of those in custody are met.”
“When in custody in Cairns, young people are visited by organisations and government agencies to ensure their welfare needs are met,” the statement said.
Guardian Australia understands the Cairns watch house is poorly equipped to accommodate large numbers of young people.
It has a yard where detainees can spend time out of their cells, but the crowding and officers’ workload has resulted in longer periods of confinement. Guardian Australia has previously reported that in cases where multiple children are placed in the same cell, they use their mattresses as temporary privacy barriers.
The state government has said its “tough” suite of youth justice laws were resulting in more children spending more time in custody.
In his email on 10 January, Taylor noted there were 11 young people in Cairns awaiting beds in youth detention but that there were “nil” beds available.
