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Parliamentary Questions


Question On Notice No. 1974 asked in the Legislative Council on 13 March 2019 by Hon Alison Xamon

Question Directed to the: Minister for Environment representing the Minister for Emergency Services; Corrective Services
Parliament: 40 Session: 1


Question

I refer to the Corruption and Crime Commission’s (CCC) various recent reports into inadequate use of force reporting in prisons, and I ask:
(a) what action, if any, has the Department taken to address ‘weaknesses in the documentation surrounding use of force incidents’ identified by the CCC;
(b) if none, why;
(c) what action has been taken to ensure incident reports are completed independently;
(d) if none, why;
(e) how many prison officers are currently employed by the Department;
(f) how many prison officers have received report writing training;
(g) how many of prison officers’ report writing training competency has expired;
(h) does the Department undertake any independent review of incident reports;
(i) if yes to (h):
(i) who undertakes the review; and
(ii) what percentage of reports were reviewed in 2018;
(j) if no to (h), why not;
(k) has any work been undertaken to raise staff awareness of confidential mechanisms for staff to report potential criminal activity and misconduct; and
(l) if yes to (k), what work has been undertaken?

Answered on 10 April 2019

In line with the CCC reports, the following reviews and updates of corresponding incident reporting and use of force incident reporting training were actioned:

(a) The Department has completed a review of the use of force theory initial and refresher training module. Additional information was included to provide greater emphasis on the actions of officers prior to and following the use of force on a prisoner. The module provides supplementary information in regards to Policy Directive 5 – Use of Force – Appendix 6 and 7.

The purpose of this additional information is to support and operationalise Policy Directive 5 and to set clear guidelines and instructions to staff regarding actions before and after using force and the review of force and reporting requirements. The module was also updated to provide greater emphasis on Policy Directive 41-Reporting of Incidents and Additional Notification to establish clear standards and procedures for the reporting of incidents in a timely manner, ensuring transparency, accuracy and accountability.

(b) Not applicable;

(c) A review of the report writing session and report writing module was completed and additional information was included to provide clarity on the need to write incident reports independently and that collaboration (including discussing the incident with other officers involved) will not occur as part of the reporting of any incident.;

The training session and module now also reminds officers of their sworn obligations under the Oath of Engagement to report every matter completely, referring officers to truthfulness of the incident report and the impacts of lying or omissions in their report.

In the period 01 January 2018 to 01 March 2019, 110 prison officers (state-wide) completed refresher training in incident report writing and use of force incident report writing.

(d) Not applicable.

(e) There are 1624 Prison Officers currently employed by the Department.

(f) All prison officers complete incident report writing and use of force incident report writing during foundation training (Entry Level Training Program).

(g)  No prison officers’ report writing training competency has expired. There is no mandated currency period or ongoing refresher requirement for prison officers for incident report writing and use of force incident report writing.

(h) Yes, the Department does undertake independent reviews of incident reports.      

(i) All Use of Force incidents are reviewed by Superintendents at the individual facilities. All Use of Force incidents are also independently reviewed by Superintendent Operations. Use of Force incidents requiring further review are escalated to the Use of Force Committee.

(ii) 26 Use of Force incidents were examined by the use of Force Committee in 2018.

(k) Yes.

(l)  In response to the CCC reports of 2018, the Department established a Professional Standards Division in January 2019. This has created an independent point of entry for staff to confidentially report all suspected misconduct and potential criminal activity.

A Department-wide portal for confidentially reporting suspected misconduct is now available on the staff intranet and a confidential telephone line service is under development.

Awareness raising of these mechanisms has included Department wide email and intranet broadcasts on obligations to report suspected misconduct and the avenues available to report.

An organisational strategy to embed the Department’s Integrity Framework will also include education, training and ongoing awareness raising on corruption prevention.