The Comanchero Motorcycle Club is treating WA’s most notorious jail like a “clubhouse”, with prison authorities having all but given up trying to tackle the club crime that is plaguing the southern Perth jail.
The West Australian can today reveal that a policy of housing club members together to “reduce disruption” and “restrict their ability to influence other prisoners” has only emboldened some of the State’s most violent criminals.
Under-resourced prison guards say they are losing the war to control the jail, with 11 staff bashed by inmates on a single day last month.
Two guards told The West Australian, on the condition of anonymity, that the situation would only get worse. “It has got to the point now where management has lost control of Hakea Prison,” one guard said.
The reach of clubs like the Comancheros is so far-reaching inside the Canning Vale prison that authorities have resorted to using “absence permits”, so police can interview prisoners outside of the jail.
This is being done so potential witnesses can provide evidence of jailhouse crime without fear of intimidation.
“Gangs are a big problem at Hakea and cause a lot of fear among prison officers and other prisoners,” one of the officers said. “There are constant threats against staff and other prisoners in a way for them to gain control.”
Hakea houses members of the Comancheros MC in the same unit so essentially we have created them a clubhouse, which means you have then got a strong organisation with a rank structure who can organise themselves and who follow orders from their head.
There have been occasions where prison officers attempt to remove one of the members from the unit and the club unites, forcing staff to retreat.
Hakea Prison is WA’s main metropolitan male remand prison. The majority of inmates are awaiting trial. An inspection of the prison last year ruled the jail faced “major infrastructure limitations” and was overcrowded, stretched and stressed.
WA Prison Officers’ Union secretary Andy Smith, pictured left, claimed the prison was running at least 50 officers short. “The prison is overcrowded and understaffed,” he said. “It is an extremely dangerous environment and will only get worse if the department doesn’t act now. It is an extremely dangerous environment and will only get worse if the department doesn’t act now.”
The prison guards said staff inside the jail were at breaking point mentally. “The mental health issues that prison officers are suffering, and silently trying to manage in there is just phenomenal,” one said. “(There is) a lot of despair, a lot of fear, anxiety, stress, and bad mental health among the staff at Hakea.”
Corrective Services Minister Fran Logan said he received regular updates on Hakea prison but could not guarantee an end to the violence. He recently met Corrective Services Commissioner Tony Hassall to discuss “what they are doing to address the concerns”. “There is no doubt that Hakea presents a highly complex situation … but this Government is working to address those issues,” he said.
Last month six men were charged over the alleged bashing death of an inmate. Alf Deon Eades, 46, died in hospital two weeks after being viciously assaulted in February.
So far this year at least seven Hakea inmates have died inside the jail. Three of those deaths have been classified as “unnatural”.
A prisoner, 26, is believed to have taken his own life on Easter Sunday. Another inmate, aged 65, died in Royal Perth Hospital after being allegedly assaulted in the exercise yard on April 15. Police charged a fellow inmate of the 65-year-old man with “assault causing death”.
At the time, Mr Hassall acknowledged Hakea was “very challenging to manage at the moment.” “It’s no secret that the State’s prisons are full,” he said. “It is difficult, I am not going to deny that … We have had to take some action this week to get the numbers down so that they go into the weekend with a bit of breathing space and a bit of flexibility.”
The Department of Justice said there was a continuing recruitment campaign to employ more than 450 new prison officers over the next 18 months.
“There is also a strong staff support framework in place to assist any staff dealing with work-related issues, “it added.” The department has a dispersal policy that reduces the threat of violence by ensuring rival gangs are separated from each other.
“The strategy includes the management and transfer of prisoners considered a risk to the safety and security of the prison based on their behavior and ability to influence the behavior of others.”
Shadow corrective services minister Sean L’Estrange said Mr Logan had “lost control of the prisons he is supposed to be running”. “With this minister in charge of our prison system, public safety is at risk,” he said. “Premier Mark McGowan needs to replace this bumbling, accident-prone minister and show leadership.”