A POLICE officer will be based at the Perth remand prison where an inmate was bashed to death – and disruptive bikies have had to be segregated – in a bid to improve reporting of assaults against staff or other inmates.
A spokesman for WA corrective services minister Fran Logan said on Thursday the officer would be based at Hakea Prison under a 12 month trial to make it easier for assault victims to immediately file a complaint.
The announcement comes as a data audit confirms serious assaults in WA prisons have been under-reported by 27 per cent in recent years.
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A new category of assault has also been created for when a victim receives no physical injuries and does not need any medical treatment, but a prisoner’s actions are still considered an “unacceptable form” of assault, such as a shove.
The assaults are largely blamed on overcrowding, understaffing, a large number of prisoners with meth addiction, and problems and bikies.
Alf Deon Eades, 46, was found injured in his cell on February 26 and died about two weeks later.
Eight inmates have been charged with murdering the Aboriginal man, and there have been unconfirmed reports he told his family he feared for his safety and had asked to be locked in this cell for his own protection.
Corrective Services Commissioner Tony Hassall said in June that when he attended Mr Eades’ memorial service, some indigenous prisoners expressed concerns to him about bikies.
He said those who were causing trouble would be moved around the state but it emerged last month that members of the Comancheros gang were being held in the same unit in a bid to step them “infecting” the facility.
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Fears over bikies in WA prisons after inmate’s death
