Police detention centres
X
The fire protection standard in police detention shall be aligned with that applicable for
correctional institutions at least.
X
The Federal Ministry of the Interior should develop an overall strategy for the
nationwide standardised organisation of preventive and reactive fire protection and
enforce standards.
X
All of the cells used for longer-term police detention should have suitable, automatic fire
detection systems.
2.6.7
Staff shortages in Hernalser Gürtel and Roßauer Lände
police detention centres
The NPM continued its ex-officio examination of the precarious staffing
situation in the two Vienna police detention centres in the year under review.
As presented in the NPM Report 2019 (p. 166 et seq.), the NPM considered the
staffing shortages and effects thereof very problematic.
The Federal Ministry of the Interior claimed that it had discussed the many
reports of short-term restrictions to open detention pending forced return in
the two police detention centres with the Vienna Police Department already in
autumn 2019. An examination of the number of permanent positions and the
actual staffing situation did not identify any irregularities, deviations or even
understaffing. A precise analysis of the work processes and the required effort
in relation to the detention capacity is planned.
No evidence of
understaffing identified
by the Ministry
As the majority of reports about the closure of open detention pending forced
return in 2019 and also in 2020 mentioned understaffing as a cause, the NPM
pursued the problem. The Federal Ministry of the Interior recently promised a
precise analysis of the situation, which was not complete at the end of 2020.
Further examinations
announced
The NPM will continue to monitor the steps taken by the Federal Ministry of
the Interior to improve the staffing situation, particularly since it emerged
on a follow-up visit to Hernalser Gürtel police detention centre in July 2020
that the calculation of the number of permanent positions was 15 years old.
Furthermore, a monitoring visit to Roßauer Lände police detention centre
in October 2020 showed that 50 additional employees would be required to
maintain the proper operation of the centre.
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