Commissioner calls meeting about inmates in police cells
Sunday, 23 February 2025 06:06:34 AM
NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb has called an emergency meeting with the Commissioner of Corrective Services over inmates languishing in police cells, putting unprecedented strain on the front line.
Commissioner Webb says gridlock across the jail system is causing congestion leading to “cell ramping” with bail-refused inmates locked up in police stations for days.
The Commissioner said the problem is a capacity issue; police stations are not designed to house prisoners for extended periods of time.
“Our job is to arrest and lock people up when they break the law, we are not an indefinite departure lounge for people in custody,” Commissioner Webb said.
“This bottleneck is consuming police time and resources which could otherwise service the community. We need a plan to allow officers to do their job and get back out on the street.”
The Commissioner launched a six-month data analysis at the start of February, to measure the impact prisoner transport is having on police manpower and resources.
Police are required to log their time and movement through the NSW Police CAD system. The analysis of this data will measure the real impact on policing resources.
An initial snapshot in November last year indicated the strain on police manpower was significant.
“I will be meeting with unions and Corrective Services to resolve this issue as soon as possible,” Commissioner Webb said.
“While we are happy to support our colleagues at Corrective Services, this issue needs to be resolved at the highest level.
“We are not minders for people in custody, we are a police force.”
The issue has spiked following the introduction of centralised bail AVL in November last year.
Both Surry Hills and Amber Laurel Correctional Centres serve as intake and transit centres for the metropolitan police bail-refused custodies.
The changes associated to the centralised bail processes has seen an increase in delays to long-term intakes, due to corrections’ facilities stating they are at full capacity.
This has ultimately led to cases where people have remained in police cells for extended periods, some up to several days.
“This is not only a police resourcing issue, it’s a human rights issue,” Commissioner Webb said.
CSNSW does not staff all court locations, particularly in regional areas.