A RIOT at Wellington Correctional Centre over the Easter weekend, labelled as one of the worst in 20 years, came days after a protest at Goulburn Correctional Centre during which gas was deployed on inmates as they threw canned food at prison officers and set several small fires.
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Tensions were running high at prisons in lockdown during the coronavirus pandemic, chairperson of the Prison Officers Vocational Branch (POVB) of the Public Service Association Nicole Jess said.
"At the moment a lot of the medium and maximum security centres are at a melting point because there are no visits which in turn means they (inmates) can't get their drugs," Ms Jess said.
"Unfortunately, that is (visits) one way they get their drugs in. We have inmates attempting to go out on hospital escort by swallowing razor blades because they've organised drug drops to be there."
The branch's secretary, Amanda Cotter, who is based at Goulburn Correctional Centre, said inmates admitted after the protest on Holy Thursday that part of the problem was that they were withdrawing from drugs.
Both women said they were worried tensions would worsen despite Corrective Services NSW now allowing inmates to see visitors via an audio visual link.
"We're fearful for our safety if we're going to get COVID-19 and we're working in an environment where tensions are boiling," Ms Jess said.
Both said the disturbance at Goulburn was brought under control reasonably quickly because there were enough staff on while external staff had to be called into Wellington because staffing was short.
"The staff (at Wellington) were very lucky to get out and that they didn't lose control," Ms Jess said.
"It's probably one of the worst riots we've had in 20 years. The staff at Goulburn are very used to disturbances and so they responded quickly."
The riot began at Wellington when a fire alarm was activated by a cell fire.
Several inmates in two neighbouring pods then refused to follow directions to muster and chemical munitions were deployed.
The incident began at about 12.20pm and inmates were secured by 2.30pm.
The unrest at the Goulburn jail began when inmates refused directions to leave their yards as scheduled.
The protest lasted five hours during which five shade awnings were destroyed and a fence was nearly destroyed, Ms Cotter said.
A Corrective Services spokesperson said the unrest broke out in the maximum security area about 2pm.
Yelling and banging could be heard from the outside. Inside, prisoners climbed on shade sales in a disturbance that occurred across several maximum security yards.
They also threw canned food at prison officers and lit several small fires.
"About 5pm, gas was deployed in one of the yards to remove approximately 12 inmates, who were then safely returned to their cells," a spokesperson said. "By 6.45pm, the majority of involved inmates had complied with directions and were safely returned to their cells."
During that time, Security Operations Group officers, who are trained Corrective Services negotiators, entered the complex with dogs. An inmate and prison officer were treated on-site for minor injuries. Both incidents are under investigation.
Ms Jess and Ms Cotter said the department had provided additional resources including a COVID-19 liaison officer but that they were worried staffing could be reduced after the pandemic.
"In future, we've got concerns that the government is going to want to take positions out of centres again because, let's face it, the government isn't going to have any money when this is all over," Ms Jess said.
"But we'll fight that after COVID-19 because at the moment that's our biggest threat. Thursday's incident has proven that this is the level of staffing we need to deal with incidents."
The POVB's members went on strike in 2018 over staffing reductions and again in 2019 concerning prison officer safety.
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