We have concluded that the response to the unfolding emergency on the night was generally good and in many respects exemplary. Incident management was marked by intelligent and pragmatic decision making, with a strong focus on staff safety, and collaboration between the Department and WAPOL was good. It is a credit to all that nobody was seriously injured in such a volatile situation. However, there are some areas of concern and opportunities for improvement in terms of incident management.

In particular, there were insufficient welfare checks of those detainees who remained in their cells, some of whom were vulnerable. In addition, key decisions were not properly recorded and some aspects of incident control require consideration.

Page last updated: April 4, 2014