Cleveland youth detainess strip-searched more than 1,200 times at detention centre, report finds
Young inmates were strip-searched more than 1,200 times at Townsville's Cleveland Youth Detention Centre between July 2015 and March 2016, a new report has revealed.
The independent inspection report, written in March, states "contraband" such as drugs were only discovered 34 times in 1,217 searches over the nine-month period.
It comes after concerns were raised in August about alleged mistreatment of inmates in the detention centre.
The report said staff at the centre had questioned whether the searches were working as a deterrent or "whether contraband would have been minor anyway".
The inspectors raised a list of concerns about strip-searching children and young people, stating the searches were not consistent with new practices the Department of Justice and Attorney-General was rolling out.
The strip searches were also unreliable, the inspectors said, and there were other ways to find contraband.
Strip search should only happen on 'reasonable grounds'
Youth Justice Regulations state the use of strip searches should only happen if "the chief executive considers, on reasonable grounds, that it is necessary for the security of detention centre employees or children in the detention centre".
But the Inspectorate found "unclothed searches are being conducted as routine during the admissions process," which may breach the regulations.
The report recommended using new equipment used in adult prisons such as a Body Orifice Security Scanner (BOSS), where a prisoner can sit and be scanned while fully clothed.
Another body scanner can detect metallic and non-metallic objects.
The report said the assistant director-general of youth justice had accepted the recommendation but could not provide a timeframe for its introduction.
The number of strip searches done over the same period at the Brisbane Youth Detention Centre was not included in its March report.
But the inspectors again raised concerns about strip searches for young inmates, recommending both scanning devices be introduced in Brisbane too.
The report said the department would do a cost-benefit analysis of the machines for the Brisbane centre by June this year.
No shower curtain when detainees admitted to centre
The Brisbane report also flagged concerns with the way young inmates were admitted to the centre, which requires them to remove their clothing, shower and put on centre-issued clothing.
It said young people were "locked in a medium-sized room containing a walled-off shower bay" during the process, with "no modesty curtain" for privacy from staff.
The inspectors were also concerned about the complaints process at the Cleveland Youth Detention Centre.
The report noted the inmates went for nearly six weeks without access to a Community Visitor (CV), who processes complaints, and they were not told why or when a replacement would be in place.
The report said only three accommodation areas out of 12 had secure letterboxes for complaints and there was a lack of information for inmates about how to lodge a complaint.
The report states the centre's executive director promised to fix the problems by October.