So a young man with a facial tattoo and cold weather is all that’s happening in NZ right now?
I’m guessing that the only reason the story of this young man with a tattoo on his face has become such a huge story is because it’s so cold, most journalists are in their office doing ‘research’ on Facebook.
At no point has anyone suggested the bleeding obvious…
…our prison system is sooooo violent.
How violent?
Recently, a report from the Office of the Ombudsman into Hawke’s Bay Regional Prison found that 46% of them had been assaulted in prison!
Prisoner safety concerns highlighted in report
Prisoners were asked a series of questions by the team from the Ombudsman’s Office and 46 percent said they had been assaulted in the prison, but only 34 percent had reported the incident to the prison authorities.
More than half of prisoners also said they had been victimised or bullied by other inmates.
…whoa. Almost half of all prisoners report being assaulted??? That’s how violent our underfunded, over stretched, 10 000+ incarcerated prison system has become.
Why hasn’t anyone else pointed out that this young man tattooing his face as a means of protecting him self inside our ultra-violent prison system is a product of a system out of control?
Why is all the focus on his employment opportunities and wankers like Andrew Dickens telling us he wouldn’t hire him?
Who the fuck cares what Andrew Dickens thinks?
Why are we so stupid in this country and why am I the first person to point this out?
Come on folks, are you even trying anymore?
Wake the fuck up.
This isn’t a story about employment issues, it’s a story about how ultra violent our prison system have become and how we have been played by crime porn headline media and ‘get-tough-on-crime politicians who have manipulated and warped our anger and fear.
The government now places no value on human life.
This is the mindset of the elite that grudgingly think they are kind by allowing us to live!!!
While they slither off into a safer place in silence!!!!nah.
This society is addicted to violence at ALL levels. Until that is acknowledged NOTHING will change.
Agree with the sentiment, mostly.
Having worked at the Prison where this gentlemen was housed I know full well there’s an unfortunate level of violence that goes on that is unseen by the staff. In terms of assaults, it’s a bit of a paradox that in the interests of maintaining a level of human rights there are no cameras in the cells themselves. Consequently, by reducing the availability of surveillance, those who are the ‘full time thugs’ within the prison walls are then able to ply their trade without fear of being prosecuted.
To be fair, there’s also some issues in quoting statistics from one prison and then seeking to extrapolate the data to explain broaders trends. And further to this, it’s even more problematic relying on prisoner reporting, which can be swayed by a number of other factors.
Penal Populism is nothing new, and research into it has been going on for a decade or more (Pratt, 2004) etc. In my view, the media cycle and current public sentiment does not bode well for any substantive changes in the short to medium term.
I do agree with Andrew on one thing though, with respect to the tattoo itself, it just needs to come off.
Not all prisoners are actually offered this service anymore. Why? because in days gone by they would get the tattoo removed and then the next morning have a ‘fresh’ one.
Agree with the sentiment, mostly.
Having worked at the Prison where this gentlemen was housed, I know full well there’s an unfortunate level of violence that goes on that is unseen by the staff. In terms of assaults, it’s a bit of a paradox that in the interests of maintaining a level of human rights there are no cameras in the cells themselves. Consequently, by reducing the availability of surveillance, those who are the ‘full time thugs’ within the prison walls are then able to ply their trade without fear of being prosecuted.
To be fair, there’s also some issues in quoting statistics from one prison and then seeking to extrapolate the data to explain broaders trends. And further to this, it’s even more problematic relying on prisoner reporting, which can be swayed by a number of other factors.
Penal Populism is nothing new, and research into it has been going on for a decade or more (Pratt, 2004) etc. In my view, the media cycle and current public sentiment does not bode well for any substantive changes in the short to medium term.
I do agree with Andrew on one thing though, with respect to the tattoo itself, it just needs to come off.
Not all prisoners are actually offered this service anymore. Why? because in days gone by they would get the tattoo removed and then the next morning have a ‘fresh’ one.
I think the high rate of people in jail is a direct result of our failed neoliberal politics. We have had thirty years of making people redundant. Jobs sent off overseas for cheapness. People having to fight for jobs that were left here and no development in further opertunities. Then we had those jobs that were left here having wage reductions and people again having to fight for them. Then we had benefits reduced so those same people have to now give up. So we now have amongst the worst suicide rate in the developed world. Young people and families living off the streets. And we continue to harass the smokers because they are so stressed. Rather than try to solve the many problems that neoliberalism has created we are putting people in lock up. We have of so many people feeling hopeless and helpless to be able to solve this problem that they either end up on the street, locked up, smoke, or take their own lives as a way out. We have no leadership from government remember jonkeys, ‘no story here stance, and this current crew like I said no leadership. Who in this current crew is going to stand up and bite the bullet. As for the media they are more interested in reporting on the weather. Wake up New Zealand is this the way we want it.
i think what we are seeing Crissie is a pure class war. The elites have decided in their wisdon thathey don’t want so many people in NZ below there station. So they have engineered the system to make it so tough on purpose. Its clever on there part but also evil. They are responsible for this and i hope they get the back lash when the underclass figure out they are being targeted.
Comments are closed.