"I know people talk about human rights and so forth, but everyone has a right to go to work and not be assaulted," he said. Mr Thomas said corrections officers faced high levels of stress, and any suggestion that spit hoods should be banned was of "significant concern to our members". Some prisoners have a tendency to spit and this is merely protecting officers from that." "However, we need that legislated by this government across the board so spit hoods aren't used at all."Īssistant branch secretary of the Together Union, Michael Thomas, said the hoods prevented corrections staff from being spat on, and were not used as a means of "punishment". "We've seen a policy to abolish spit hoods in watch houses by the Police Commissioner," she said. Calls to abolish spit hood use rejected by unionĪnti-spit hood campaigner and CEO of Sisters Inside, Debbie Kilroy, said female prisoners had spoken of the "fear and the terror they have when the spit hood is about to be used". "Safety hood deployments during critical incidents are always recorded and are reviewed by local review panels to ensure they are used appropriately," the spokesperson said. "This system limitation has directly impacted the number of incidents reported as involving the use of a safety hood," the document said.Ī Queensland Corrective Services (QCS) spokesperson said in 2021-2022, the devices were used on less than 1 per cent of all prisoners. It said prior to August, 2020, corrections officers were only able to select one "tactical response" option used per incident. More than half of the prisoners hooded in 2021-2022 were Indigenous Australians.Ī caveat in the information indicates use of the devices has been under-reported due to a "system limitation". The hoods were used 122 times on 89 prisoners in the 2021-2022 financial year – a marked increase on the 51 incidents recorded in 2018-2019. New figures obtained by ABC News under Right to Information laws show prison officers are putting spit hoods over the face of a Queensland prisoner about once every three days on average. The announcement did not extend to prisons. In 2022, the Queensland Police Service announced spit hoods would no longer be used in police watch houses across the state after a "thorough review into the matter". One Queensland prisoner hooded every three days, on average She was also known as Selesa Darcy and in 2019 pleaded guilty to 23 charges, including serious assault, after she violently attacked a 61-year-old woman who worked in a Townsville liquor store.Īt the time of her death, Ms Tafaifa was also facing charges relating to the alleged serious assault of a corrective services officer in prison. Ms Tafaifa had significant health issues, including diabetes, asthma, obesity and schizoaffective disorder, and no cause of death has yet been outlined in court. It took more than seven minutes for a medical assessment to be done after she first verbalised her medical distress, he added. He said the vision shows the 44-year-old "pleading for her puffer on some six occasions" and saying "I can't breathe" on four occasions. "A mere five minutes and 30 seconds elapsed between the first use of physical force by officers against Selesa in the interview room to her appearing non-responsive on the floor of cell one," Mr O'Gorman told the court. At a pre-inquest hearing in February, 2023, the barrister for Ms Tafaifa's family – Dan O'Gorman SC – said the footage of her death "largely speaks for itself".
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