OpinionChevron Right IconGary Adshead
Opinion: Solely blaming Greenough inmates for WA's biggest ever prison break an easy out
Gary AdsheadThe West Australian
Tuesday, 31 July 2018 2:00AM
Power tools removed from all WA jails following riots
VideoMore than 80 prisoners banded together to start a riot at Greenough Prison on Tuesday, sparking WA's biggest ever prison break.
Governments are on pretty safe ground when taking an unsympathetic line about overcrowding in prisons.
Criminals complaining of double or triple bunking in jails will hardly have tears welling up in the eyes of the public. Out of sight, out of mind.
It might explain why Premier Mark McGowan took the fire and brimstone approach to those who trashed and torched Greenough Regional Prison when arguing the buck should stop with them for what occurred.
"They are stupid, ignorant, appalling young men," he said. "The idea that because you have to share a cell with another prisoner entitles you to then set fire to things, break out and cause mayhem and riot is wrong."
But it's not quite so open and shut when a prison erupts into violence before 10 crooks manage to cut and climb their way out, forcing the public to lock their windows and stay inside.
It requires a bit more of an explanation than simply saying the prisoners were reckless and irresponsible. Suggesting people behind bars do bad things if the right set of circumstances arise is stating the bleeding obvious.
When Corrective Services Minister Fran Logan fronted the media for the first time after the riot and history-making escapes, he passed the buck in another direction by blaming the previous government for neglecting a system "in crisis" for too long.
To his credit, Logan apologised for the fear and anxiety felt by the public of Greenough and Geraldton knowing desperate escapees were peppered throughout their communities.
And no one is denying that prisons are complex and unpredictable institutions.
But the notion that a government kicked out of office in March 2017 could be responsible for a mass break-out in July 2018 is more than a stretch.
The minister knew full well that Greenough was under extraordinary strain when he took over the portfolio. He only had to listen to the words of WA Prison Officers Union secretary John Welch, who had plenty to say about Greenough in April last year.
"Greenough Regional Prison is suffering from chronic overcrowding," he said. "When you get condensation, when you get people sleeping near toilets, that's clearly not a good situation in terms of properly managing prisons and ensuring a healthy environment for them."
Welch is now working for the McGowan Government.
Something else that should be addressed by former Victorian prisons chief Jan Shuard as part of her inquiry into the Greenough disaster, is the numbers game that gets played when it comes to a prison's "design capacity" as opposed to its "modified capacity".
Gatekeepers for the minister and the Premier were at pains to point out that there were 280 prisoners at Greenough when the riot started and the "capacity" was 333.
In fact, Greenough was designed for 223 prisoners and the practice of putting extra beds in cells built for one prisoner has long been a concern for the union and the Inspector of Custodial Services Neil Morgan.
Apart from three reports across eight years that warned specifically about overcrowding at Greenough, Morgan studied WA's overall prison capacity crisis in 2016.
"The crowding, conditions and degree of confinement in the maxi yard are quite concerning," he wrote in relation to Greenough. "Too many prisoners are unemployed or underemployed."
Morgan also addressed the spin often applied to the word capacity when bureaucrats and politicians try to reassure the public that the prison system is being managed.
"Debates about prison 'overcrowding' tend to descend into a tediously unproductive discussion of how many prisoners are being forced to sleep on mattresses on the floor," he said. "The issues run much deeper and wider than that. Most of our prisons are very crowded (too many prisoners for the available space and facilities). The department's method of reporting has hidden the extent of the problem."
He summed up the situation in mid-2016 by saying WA prisons were operating at 148 per cent of capacity.
Logan was aware of that and acknowledged that Greenough hadn't been a priority compared to some other jails given budget constraints.
It was also clear last week that the minister knew Greenough wasn't running enough prisoner programs and that idle hands may have been a factor in the unrest.
"You can put more people in prison," he said. "But what was critical was that the previous government put more beds in, but not the infrastructure or programs in. As long as we can keep the prisoners occupied to stop the boredom setting in, to stop the plotting setting in. The most important thing in a prison system is to keep them occupied."
During the riot, Seven News spoke with a male and female prisoner who managed to get access to an office phone at Greenough.
They both said rolling prison lock downs, where inmates are held in cells for long periods, were a trigger for the riots.
"We're not here to hurt the officers," a male prisoner said. "We're after respect."
Voters, particularly those who have been victims of crime, would understandably say boohoo to that.
But Morgan saw some substance in what the inmate said so any inquiry should examine whether Greenough's management systems were badly broken and were fuelling trouble long before inmates started throwing Molotov cocktails last Tuesday.
"Despite the fact the inmates were, in the words of the commissioner, running amok for a while, they didn't target staff, and there's no evidence to date of them targeting their fellow prisoners," the custodial inspector said.
"Now that's really interesting and that's telling you that it wasn't about having a go at staff, but rather frustration and opportunism."
The Premier said the prisoners were to blame — end of story. His minister said the previous government was largely responsible for the mess.
Morgan believes the inquiry into how and why this total breach of security occurred should dig far deeper.
"A lot of questions need to be asked about the regime there," he said.
In other words, a whitewash won't cut it.
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