House of Assembly Fifty-Third Parliament, First Session (53-1) 53 1 Parliament of South Australia House of Assembly published Question Time Police Cells Police Cells Mr GARDNER House of Assembly Morialta Police Cells Mr GARDNER (Morialta) (14:55): I am not sure if the minister heard the commissioner this morning, but is the minister investigating claims made on radio this morning that a prisoner was kept in a holding cell for three weeks without the opportunity to have a shower even? The Hon. A. PICCOLO House of Assembly Light Minister for Disabilities Minister for Police Minister for Correctional Services Minister for Emergency Services Minister for Road Safety Police Cells The Hon. A. PICCOLO (Light—Minister for Disabilities, Minister for Police, Minister for Correctional Services, Minister for Emergency Services, Minister for Road Safety) (14:55): I thank the honourable member for his question. I did hear the comment made by a person who referred to himself as Michael and who alleged, first of all, that his son had been held in these cells. We have made inquiries to find out the background to that. Unfortunately, with the number of people who work through our system, we need some more information to work out whether that allegation is accurate or not—and it is an allegation at this stage. Secondly, I am not suggesting that the person is not telling the truth; what I am suggesting is that the information provided on radio was insufficient to identify any person. What I can say is that our policy is as follows for the holding of prisoners in police cells. First of all, it is policy to ensure that prisoners are able to shower daily. Whether they choose to shower daily or not is a different matter, but they have the opportunity to shower daily. They also are showered under the supervision of Corrections staff, for obvious reasons. They also have an opportunity to change their clothing daily. In the Sturt cells, there are six single cells and two double cells for a total of 10 prisoners, so I would have thought that if a person had not showered for 21 days it might come to the attention of a Corrections officer. In addition to that, there is a whole range of other rights which prisoners have in our cells, but if that person is concerned about the welfare of their child they should ring my office with some more details. I will be happy to investigate and have the integrity people look at it.