Officer injured – Townsville Correctional Centre
A custodial correctional officer has been injured during an incident involving a prisoner at Townsville Men’s Correctional Centre this afternoon.
Initial information indicates the officer was engaging with a non-compliant prisoner at about 5:30pm, when the prisoner became combative and punched the officer several times.
Responding officers restrained the prisoner. While responding to the incident, a second officer suffered hand injuries which did not require medical treatment.
The prisoner was escorted to the Detention Unit, and as a precaution the officer who had been assaulted was transported to hospital by a colleague for assessment.
Management and senior officers are continuing to support the officer, their family and their colleagues.
Prisoners who assault officers may face additional criminal charges and further prison time.
They are also subject to internal disciplinary processes, including loss of privileges.
Queensland Corrective Services is a front line public safety agency and every day our officers interact with the most challenging and complex people in our society to ensure the safety and security of the community.
We are thankful for their commitment, and for the important role they play in making Queensland safer for all of us.
Officer safety is Queensland Corrective Services’ absolute priority. Every officer deserves to go home safely at the end of shift.
We take our responsibility as an employer to support our officers through appropriate training and provision of equipment, technology, and policy support very seriously, but recognise that we cannot remove all risk from the workplace due to the dynamic nature of correctional environments.
People who have been removed from society for violent or anti-social behaviour sometimes display that same behaviour in a prison environment, despite the best efforts of our officers to de-escalate situations.
When an officer is injured on duty, QCS is committed to supporting the officer and their family while they recover.
Our best wishes go to the injured officers.
