Pubdate: Tue, 17 Nov 2009
Source: Age, The (Australia)
Page: Front Page
Copyright: 2009 The Age Company Ltd
Contact:  http://www.theage.com.au/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/5
Authors: Nick Mckenzie and Richard Baker
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?236 (Corruption - Outside U.S.)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/prison.htm (Incarceration)

DRUGS AND SEX SCANDAL HIT JAIL

A BIG increase in drug overdoses among inmates and a sex scandal
involving prison officials have prompted claims that Victoria's
largest women's jail is in disarray.

In the past six months, at least seven - and possibly 11 - prisoners
have had one or more serious drug overdoses at the maximum security
Dame Phyllis Frost Centre in Melbourne's west.

Department sources have told The Age the drug problem at the prison is
the worst it has been in a decade, with heroin and ice readily available.

Two prison officials have also been investigated for misconduct after
the acting operations manager was discovered changing rosters so he
could have sex with a female prison officer at the jail - including
while she was on duty.

A July email sent by the manager to the officer refers to the roster
changes: "This is shifty business trying to juggle all these shifts
but it is well worth it." On at least one occasion the pair had sex on
prison grounds when the manager was off duty and not meant to be on
site.

Hours after one tryst, the female officer - who was meant to be
supervising the prison at the time - wrote in an email: "It was great
to catch up tonight. Sex was fantastic ... thank God for the Ops
[operations] room."

A department source aware of the incident said: "Who was supervising
the prison while this was going on?"

The prison has also been grappling with a spate of suicide attempts
and overcrowding following a 25 per cent increase in the number of
women jailed in Victoria in the past 12 months.

The State Opposition and prisoner welfare advocates claim the latest
drug and sex incidents show the state-run jail is in crisis.

In response to a series of questions from The Age about the prison,
Corrections Minister Bob Cameron released a short statement saying:
"These are serious issues and the Corrections Commissioner has assured
me that every effort is being made by the prison authorities to
resolve them."

Victoria Police and the Office of Correctional Services Review have
launched investigations into recent drug-related incidents at the
prison, including one where a female prisoner was able to carry
packages of heroin in her stomach into the jail - leading to two
inmates overdosing.

In another recent case when an inmate had a near-fatal overdose, it
has been alleged that prison officials failed to take her to hospital
for several hours despite pleas from other prisoners.

Prison management disputes the allegation and insists the woman was
given prompt medical treatment. The incident is being
investigated.

State Ombudsman George Brouwer last year put the prison's management
on notice over drugs in a scathing report that found problems with
"search and seizure" policies and a "widely held perception ... that
drugs are easy to obtain".

Corrections Victoria told The Age this week it had continued to
tighten security procedures to prevent drugs entering the prison.
"There is no evidence to suggest staff are linked to recent drug
incidents," a Corrections Victoria spokeswoman said.

She would not comment on the specifics of the sex scandal.

In addition to their workplace sex, the acting operations manager also
told the female officer that he would "be gentle" on her when writing
up an official report after she lost a mobile phone in the prison in a
potentially serious security breach.

The manager is believed to have been demoted and shifted to another
corrections facility in Melbourne. The female officer is believed to
have remained at the prison.

Prison advocate and Western Suburbs Legal Services lawyer Amanda
George said the recent drugs incidents and staff misconduct were a
product of a "highly dysfunctional and unaccountable" management.

Ms George said she feared a death in custody at the prison was
imminent given the recent spate of serious drug-related and self-harm
incidents. 
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake