Ready and trained for the worst, 39 new correctional officer recruits are now qualified to respond to violence and non-compliant inmates after completing a riot training exercise at John Morony Correctional Complex.
The nine-week program, which finished last month, trained the men and women in riot response and pushed them to their limits in preparation for some of the challenges frontline officers may face as part of the job.
With aims to equip them with skills to keep them safe and ensure prison security, more than 300 new recruits will have undergone the training by the end of the year.
Assistant commissioner of security and intelligence, Mark Wilson, said the John Morony-based riot and gas training was essential to keep prisons safe.
‘‘Corrections can be a dangerous job and officers often have to deal with inmates who are hostile and refuse to comply with directions,’’ Mr Wilson said.
‘‘Officers will first attempt to talk them into compliance but if this does not work, and if there’s verbal or physical threats made to officers, they need to be able to respond.
‘‘Gas deployment is one option which takes the fight out of a person and the aggression out of a situation quickly and effectively.’’
Mr Wilson said riots or even significant disturbances were very rare in the correctional system with only a handful in the past 20 years.
‘‘The last time we’ve seen any significant injury or damage caused by a riot was in 2002.’’
