2018 Inspection of Hakea Prison

REPORT 121 2018 INSPECTION OF HAKEA PRISON Inspection of prisons, court custody centres, prescribed lock-ups, 2018 INSPECTION OF HAKEA PRISON juvenile detention centres, and review of custodial services in Western Australia 121 Level 5, Albert Facey House, 469 Wellington Street Perth, Western Australia, Australia 6000 FEBRUARY 2019 Telephone: +61 8 6551 4200 Facsimile: +61 8 6551 4216 FEBRUARY 2019 Independent oversight that contributes to a more www.oics.wa.gov.au accountable public sector 2018 Inspection of Hakea Prison Office of the Inspector of Custodial Services Level 5, Albert Facey House 469 Wellington Street Perth WA 6000 www.oics.wa.gov.au February 2019 ISSN 1445-3134 (Print) ISSN 2204-4140 (Electronic) This report is available on the Office’s website and will be made available, upon request, in alternate formats. This document uses environmentally friendly paper, comprising 50% recycled & 50% totally chlorine free plantation pulp. Contents INSPECTOR’S OVERVIEW Hakea Prison: delivering good remand services to the justice system but overcrowded, over-stretched and over-stressed ..........................................................................................iii SUMMARY OF FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ........................................................x FACT PAGE .......................................................................................................................xvi 1 BACKGROUND .......................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Hakea Prison ....................................................................................................................1 1.2 The Inspection .................................................................................................................2 2 RECEPTION, REMAND AND ASSESSMENTS SERVICES ............................................ 3 2.1 Reception and Admission ...............................................................................................3 2.2 Prisoner Property ............................................................................................................3 2.3 Orientation .......................................................................................................................5 2.4 Bail Services .....................................................................................................................6 2.5 Remand Prisoners ...........................................................................................................6 2.6 Assessments ..................................................................................................................10 3 PRISONER CARE AND WELLBEING ..........................................................................13 3.1 Prisoner Living Conditions ............................................................................................13 3.2 Food and Nutrition ........................................................................................................14 3.3 Clothing, Bedding and Laundry ...................................................................................18 3.4 Visits ................................................................................................................................18 3.5 Telephone and Skype ....................................................................................................21 3.6 Prisoner Purchases .......................................................................................................22 3.7 Religion and Spirituality ................................................................................................24 3.8 Prisoner Forums ............................................................................................................25 4 PRISONER GROUPS ................................................................................................ 26 4.1 Protection .......................................................................................................................26 4.2 Aboriginal Prisoners ......................................................................................................27 4.3 Sentenced Prisoners .....................................................................................................31 5 KEEPING BUSY ........................................................................................................ 33 5.1 Recreation ......................................................................................................................33 5.2 Employment .................................................................................................................. 34 2018 INSPECTION OF HAKEA PRISON i 5.3 Education ........................................................................................................................35 5.4 Programs ........................................................................................................................36 6 HEALTH CARE AND MENTAL HEALTH CARE .......................................................... 38 6.1 Primary Health ...............................................................................................................38 6.2 Health Centre Staff ....................................................................................................... 40 6.3 Mental Health .................................................................................................................41 6.4 Auxiliary Services ...........................................................................................................45 6.5 External Medical Appointments ................................................................................. 46 7 CUSTODY AND SECURITY ...................................................................................... 47 7.1 Custodial Infrastructure ...............................................................................................47 7.2 Relational Security .........................................................................................................51 7.3 Prisoner Management ...................................................................................................52 7.4 Use of Force ....................................................................................................................53 7.5 Emergency Management ............................................................................................. 54 7.6 Occupational Safety and Health ..................................................................................55 8 RESOURCES AND SYSTEMS .................................................................................... 56 8.1 Staffing Levels ................................................................................................................56 8.2 Leadership and Management.......................................................................................57 8.3 Staffing ............................................................................................................................59 APPENDIX 1 Table of abbreviations .............................................................................................................63 APPENDIX 2 Bibliography............................................................................................................................. 64 APPENDIX 3 Department of Justice Response ...........................................................................................66 APPENDIX 4 Inspection team ...................................................................................................................... 73 APPENDIX 5 Key dates ...................................................................................................................................74 ii 2018 INSPECTION OF HAKEA PRISON Inspector’s Overview HAKEA PRISON: DELIVERING GOOD REMAND SERVICES TO THE JUSTICE SYSTEM BUT OVERCROWDED, OVER-STRETCHED AND OVER-STRESSED HAKEA DOES A REMARKABLY GOOD JOB IN DELIVERING SERVICES TO THE JUSTICE SYSTEM Hakea Prison is Western Australia’s main metropolitan male remand and reception prison. It holds around 1,160 men. Around 200 have been sentenced but the majority are awaiting trial. Hakea faces major infrastructure limitations and is overcrowded, stretched and stressed. In the circumstances, it does remarkably well in providing core remand services for the justice system. Prisoners are constantly coming and going. In 2017, Hakea managed over 16,500 prisoner movements in and out of the prison without major incident. Prisoners’ property was managed well, with no recorded complaints about missing or damaged property. Bail services were stretched but generally well-managed, and coordination with the courts was good. The legal profession should also be pleased that, after some years of negotiation and pressure from our Office, the Department of Justice (the Department) has amended its policies to make it easier for lawyers to take laptops into the prison for client consultations. The video link area provides the best example of how staff managed, against the odds, to service the courts. In each of the last two years, they facilitated around 25,000 video link court appearances from a centre that was small, run-down, high risk and unfit for purpose. I am pleased to report that the current government prioritised the construction of a new video link facility. This became operational on 1 February 2019 and

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