Prison officers ask Bunbury to ‘Respect the Risk’
Friday 16 Nov 2012The WA Prison Officers’ Union is visiting Bunbury and the South West region today to raise awareness of the risks faced by local Prison Officers who help manage some of the state’s most violent individuals.
Bunbury Regional Prison like another 12 of Western Australia’s 15 prison facilities suffers serious overcrowding with 324 prisoners housed in a prison designed for less than 223.
The visit comes during a week where two prison officers at Hakea Prison and three at Greenough Prison have been assaulted at work.
Officers from Bunbury Regional Prison will meet at the Office of the Member for Bunbury, John Castrilli MLA to present him with a petition signed by local Prison Officers and their families.
The petition calls on Mr Castrilli to support the Respect the Risk campaign and seeks his support to get the Barnett-Grylls Government to:
- Increase funding to the WA prison systen to deal with overcrowding
- Build new facilities to address the chronic overcrowding at WA Prisons
- Provide safe staffing levels to deal with the burgeoning prison population
- Give Prison Officers a fair deal; and
- Guarantee that foreign companies will not be allowed to run our prisons for profit.
The Officers and the Respect the Risk mobile billboard will be outside Mr Castrilli’s office at 10.30am.
Officers will then meet the Member for Collie, Mick Murray MLA at 11.00am outside Eaton Fair Shopping Centre before proceeding to deliver pamphlets about the campaign throughout the suburb of Eaton.
WAPOU Secretary John Welch said the “Respect the Risk “ campaign was about getting a fairer deal for Prison Officers from the Barnett-Grylls Government.
“Prison officers are calling for proper staffing levels, new prison facilities to deal with the chronic overcrowding and better pay and conditions.
“We’ve been asking for action from the State Government on these issues for a while now but they’ve failed to respond. It’s now time they matched their tough law and order rhetoric with some action.