QCS can confirm that three officers have been injured in incidents at Woodford and Wolston Correctional Centres yesterday.
Yesterday afternoon around 2pm, officers at Woodford Correctional Centre were interacting with a prisoner when he became aggressive and headbutted an officer.
The prisoner was restrained and during the use of force, another officer was assaulted.
Both officers were treated at the medical centre and are receiving further treatment for facial and torso injuries.
The prisoner was escorted to the detention unit.
The second incident occurred at Wolston Correctional Centre last night around 6.40pm when officers were conducing a welfare check on a prisoner in the detention unit.
While they were leaving the cell, the prisoner assaulted an officer and was restrained and remains in the detention unit.
The officer was taken to the medical centre for treatment of facial injuries.
Both matters will be referred to CSIU for investigation.
Management and senior officers are continuing to support the officers, their families 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.
