More to be done about drugs in WA prisons

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The Corruption and Crime watchdog and the State Opposition want more scrutiny when it comes to the states prison officers selection criteria.

The State Opposition believe criticism of the Department of Justice by the head of WA's Corruption and Crime Commission should be a concern to all West Australians.

In an interview with The West, Crime and Corruption Commissioner John McKechnie said the search regime of prison officers was weak, despite warning signs from the commission and an Auditor General's report. 

Mr McKechnie told the west prison officers are putting colleagues at risk by smuggling meth to prisoners who could then turn violent and the department needs more funding to do a better job at tackling the problem. 

The newly appointed Opposition Minister for Corrective Services Zak Kirkup said this problem has been ignored for too long by the McGowan Government.

"The Department of Justice and WA Police need to be properly funded so that they have the resources to identify and put an end to the corruption, drug trafficking and crimes being committed in our state's jails," he said. 

Both the Opposition and Crime and Corruption Commission agree more funding needs to be explored as a way to combat this issue. 
 

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