A former Juvenile Justice warden has lifted the lid on life behind bars, likening confronting inmates to “bringing a knife to a gunfight”.
It comes after The Daily Advertiser revealed detainees at Wagga’s ‘juvy’ – the Riverina Juvenile Justice Centre (RJJC) – have assaulted staff on 27 separate occasions in the last 17 months.
The staff member, who consulted closely with the Public Services Association throughout his tenure, said officers were “appallingly” ill-equipped to deal with frenzied teens.
“It was often a case of putting yourself in harm’s way to quell a situation,” the former warden said.
“You rarely can use force so often you end up asking them for mercy."
“For clarity, the kids are for the most part very well behaved - but when these circumstances arise it is basically a free-for-all.
“It’s more an issue with the powers that are given to staff than the kids themselves because these situations are always bound to arise.”
Juvenile Justice NSW did not contest the accuracy of the Wagga statistics.
“Any assault on our staff is unacceptable,” a spokesperson said. “The safety and security of Juvenile Justice staff is of paramount importance.
“Young people in custody often have complex needs including education difficulties, mental health issues, past history of trauma and alcohol and other drug abuse.”
Detailed statistics concerning assaults in Juvenile Justice facilities across the state have been released.
Acmena Juvenile Justice Centre, a South Grafton facility of similar size to the Riverina Juvenile Justice Centre, experienced 13 assaults over the same 17 months.
The Reiby facility, in Sydney’s south-west, accommodates a maximum of 10 more inmates then the Riverina JJC. It had 15 assaults over the same period.
PSA’s senior industrial officer Julie Bond revealed the Department of Justice is currently looking to employ better forms of defence tactics to its staff.
“A lot of these detainees have mental health issues and are ice affected, so they don’t care for any sort of authority figure,” she said.
The Juvenile Justice spokesman said the government was addressing the issue.
“The NSW Government is also investing $1 million in additional training to support frontline staff manage challenging detainees.”
