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Officer assaulted at Townsville Correctional Centre

Queensland Corrective Services can confirm that an officer has been injured during an incident where force was required to be used at Townsville Correctional Centre On November 18.

Officers were searching a prisoner when he became non-compliant and as he was being restrained he struck out and hit an officer in the face.

Following the assault, the prisoner was restrained and escorted taken to the Detention Unit.

The male officer was assessed by medical staff at the centre and is receiving treatment for bruising and swelling to the eye area.

The matter will be referred to CSIU for investigation.

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.

Every day our officers interact with the most challenging and complex people in our society.

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.