LESSONS: Queensland Police Union president Ian Leavers.
QUEENSLAND'S powerful police union wants more offenders to be locked up when they are arrested to teach them a lesson.
It will seek to change existing laws which allow suspects to be sent on their way after being issued with notices to appear in court.
Union president Ian Leavers said more people needed to see the inside of a watchhouse.
"Perhaps a little time to contemplate life with the clang of the cell door ringing in their ears could be just the ticket to steer some wayward young folk back on track," he said.
The union will use its position on a State Government's review panel of the Police Powers and Responsibilities Act to argue for the changes.
Mr Leavers said the notice-to-appear system, introduced in 1998, had contributed to a "generation of people who think unlawful behaviour has little or no consequences".
The current law means virtually anyone picked up by police who is not judged to be an immediate public danger can be released with a notice to appear. Even serious and violent crimes can be dealt with in this way.
Alleged sex offenders can be immediately released if they are not considered a bail risk or a threat to the public.
The controversial call comes after criticism of police over the watchhouse death of Palm Island man Cameron Doomadgee in 2004, but also at a time of growing public concern over alcohol and drug-related violence.
An investigation by The Courier-Mail last year found drunkenness and drug-related charges were among the most common reasons people were held in watchhouses. The investigation revealed about a quarter of the state's crime was alcohol-related, and a dozen glassing victims were turning up at Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital every weekend.
The call has been condemned by civil libertarians, youth advocates and sections of the legal community.
The Queensland Police Service said it could not comment until Monday.
The Queensland Law Society has expressed concern, with spokesman Ken Mackenzie saying punishment was a matter for the courts to decide.
"In many cases, a custodial penalty would not be considered appropriate by the courts, so it would be inappropriate for police to say 'we do think this needs a taste of jail and we're going to give it to you'."
Youth Advocacy Centre director Rosslyn Munro said there was no evidence that locking people up taught them a lesson.
Terry O'Gorman from the Queensland Council of Civil Liberties said there were too many people being taken to watchhouses by police.
"Police are abusing their discretion and watchhousing people unjustifiably," he said.
