The Chief Ombudsman is calling for the Department of Corrections to stop the way it’s running the unit which houses some of our most dangerous criminals, including the Christchurch terrorist.
Peter Boshier visited the Prisoners of Extreme Risk Unit (PERU) at Auckland Prison in Paremoremo, four times over the past 18 months.
“The conditions and treatment in the PERU are cruel, inhuman and degrading and in breach of the United Nations Convention against Torture,” Boshier said.
“I saw compelling evidence of prolonged solitary confinement in oppressive conditions of all those in custody in the PERU, as well as other human rights abuses, including concerning incidents of use of force.”
We have leant nothing from abusing 250 000 kids in State Care have we?
We are now torturing prisoners in our SuperMax prison, and it is only set to get much worse.
National are so ideologically hateful they will add 10 000 into NZ prisons for minor offences…
Ministry of Justice warns NZ First-National coalition commitment risks doubling prison population
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- The National-NZ First coalition agreement committed to ending concurrent sentences for offences committed while on parole, bail, or in custody.
- The Ministry of Justice estimated this could double the prison population, so the Government has opted to ‘encourage’ ending concurrent sentences as a first step.
- Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith has previously said the Government would still honour the coalition commitment during this parliamentary term, but last night he said: “We’ll see.”
Honouring a National-NZ First coalition commitment could put an additional 10,000 people in prison for mostly minor offences, more than doubling the prison population in what Ministry of Justice officials describe as “not a feasible option”.
The estimate is contained in the ministry’s regulatory impact statement (Ris) on the suite of sentencing reforms that Cabinet has now signed off, with a bill enabling them to be introduced to Parliament this week.
Measures include capping sentencing discounts at 40%, limits on discounts for youth and remorse, a sliding scale for pleading guilty, and “encouraging the use of cumulative sentencing for offences committed while on bail, in custody, or on parole”.
In NZ we have angry Māori and Pacifica youth attacking dairy’s and service stations fighting exploited migrant workers from China and India while the white suburbs clutch their pearls and scream ‘something must be done’
The Political Right want a war on crime because their fearful reactionary voting base are always terrified by the Media’s lust with crime porn for click bait.
National are so ideologically hateful they will add 10 000 into NZ prisons for minor offences.
Their toxic cocktail of tough on crime policy will see our prison population explode by 10 000 for mostly minor crimes which will cost billions more while creating all the conditions for a massive prison riots and mass prison privatisation.
In NZ we are not interested in rehabilitating criminals or healing broken men, we want them to suffer and this desire to make the prisoners suffer is leading to counterproductive social policy that will only make issues worse.
To put 10 000 more into our broken prison system and think that is a solution gives you real insight into how ideologically hateful the Political Right have become.
But it gets so much worse.
As National are planning to double bunk our entire corrupt and violent prison system with an extra 10 000 convicted of minor offences, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith is plotting to reduce access to Jury trials…
Government considers raising threshold for getting a jury trial
The government is considering raising the threshold for a defendant to choose a jury trial, in a bid to speed up the court system.
The number of active jury trials climbed from about 2000 six years ago to about 3400 last year, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith said in a statement. The average duration of a case climbed from 349 days to 498 days over the same period.
Currently, defendants can choose to face a jury – rather than a judge alone – when charged with a criminal offence carrying a maximum prison sentence of two years or more.
Goldsmith said he was seeking feedback on a proposal to increase that threshold, saying jury trials were one of the biggest drivers of delays.
…you’ll tell yourself it’s just the crims, that you don’t need to worry about a Prison Industrial Complex, that removing Jury trials is prudent, you will slavishly spit any lie to hide the Police State you are worshipping.
Human Beings have intrinsic human rights.
Abusing people in prison to make them suffer all to scratch your itch of anger and fear is a sadism, it isn’t law and order.
Removing Jury Trials for those we despise so we can blow the prison population out by 10 000 is not social policy, it’s a revenge fantasy.
Any moment ‘Private Prisons’ will be sold to us as the solution.
This is what we are now, this is who we have become.
Ain’t it funny how the factories doors close?‘Round the time that the school doors close?‘Round the time that a hundred thousand jail cellsOpen up to greet you like the reaper?
System of a Down – Ashes in the Fall
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They are in prison for a reason, super max most definitely need to be there.
No political party EVER won votes by being soft on criminals, they only lose votes (as Labour, the crim huggers, found out)
Your wrong again which is not surprising, when you have to resort to lies to justify your evil views it is a sure sign that you are just making things up although the lake of fire will be your reward.
There is no denial on the left that prisons are required and that they are the best place for dangerous criminals but if you had any sort of real knowledge you would learn that often the most dangerous are still in society and only those without the resources to defend themselves (financial or intellectual ability) end up in prison. To then have a prison system that brutalize those prisoners so that they are even more dangerous if they are released is complete madness which describes you also since you support it happening.
Indeed. I think most of us, with the exception of the ‘nathans’ and ‘gaby’s of the world, will agree that Brenton Tarrant is a bad egg, but he doesn’t compare to someone like Peter Thiel who’s allowed to walk around freely in this country as if he is an actual New Zealand citizen.
Learn to make your point clearly will you IR.
Prisons are needed for the really bad yes.
I think true that political parties soft on criminals lose votes.
Then next statement about Labour – what was the example you would give of them being crim huggers?
You don’t add anything useful to the tiny discourse of commenters here. Can you at least make your point clearly instead of blathering on. Some light on this subject would be appreciated – there is no smart and upward movement in NZAO on crime and prisons. So let’s hear your ideas spelt out clearly!
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Nicholas Boyack who was a dedicated journalist died in November 2024. He spent six months as a Probation Officer and wrote this article about the difficulties that criminals have from go to whoa. Taking a self-satisfied, irritated and patronising view is the right of the middle-class citizen, to be static once a good spot is reached, but doesn’t aid society.
To aim for better in society one needs to understand judgments aren’t the solution, but say half could find a decent life with few transgressions, we would all benefit without much continuing pay-out.
Nicholas Boyack RIP took on the role of Probation Officer for six months and gained some background to the situation. This is about that time.
LET US ALL READ THIS AND SEE THESE POLICIES ARE IMPLEMENTED THAT HE HAS CAREFULLY SET DOWN WHICH OTHERS HAVE BEEN ADVOCATING FOR YEARS TO PEOPLE NOT INTERESTED IN MAKING A GOOD FIST OF THEIR JOBS. INSTEAD, THEY HAVE VIRTUALLY USED THEIR FISTS TO KNOCK DOWN THE CRIMINALS FURTHER. AND BEEN PAID TO DO SO, WHICH IS A CRIME IN ITSELF. THIS IS LONG, BUT IT IS REQUIRED READING FOR A PERSON WITH PROBITY, AND A WILL TO DO A GOOD JOB. SO GO TO IT.
Jan.12/21
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/opinion/123139378/a-former-probation-officers-view-a-paper-war-that-kicks-exprisoners-when-theyre-down
OPINION: Nicholas Boyack spent 26 years in journalism before quitting to become a probation officer in January. He lasted six months before throwing in the towel and returning to Stuff.
Imagine sitting in a room where someone tells you the graphic details of kicking a man to death. Many years later, he remains proud of what he did and boasts that despite a long stretch in prison, he would not hesitate to do it again.
Jack* was typical of the offenders I met. He was unemployed, a gang associate and an alcoholic, and he had spent 40 years in and out of prison. He had no fixed abode. He was Māori but had no real connection to his culture.
His cheerful grin displayed his lack of teeth. Like most offenders, he did not have a GP and his general health was poor.It seemed like only a matter of time before he drank himself to death or got into a serious brawl with someone younger and stronger.
Having always believed in rehabilitation and that everybody deserves a second chance, I left journalism to pursue a career where I hoped to help people like Jack.
In the city where I was based, there was a strong link between poverty and crime. The role of probation officers (in theory) was to motivate and encourage offenders to make positive changes in their lives and ensure they comply with their community-based sentences and orders.Officers are supposed to spend 50 per cent of their time face to face with offenders and their remaining time preparing reports and recommendations for the courts and New Zealand Parole Board. In reality, it is just a paper war.
People who’d been sentenced by the courts to report weekly to the probation service would trudge in late – or not at all. Probation officers could technically find them in breach for failing to report in, but often took the view that laying further charges would only heap more misery on them.
When they reported in for the first time, for their “induction”, offenders were reminded that if they breached conditions set by the courts, we could report them to the Ministry of Social Development, which could stop their benefit. That would lead to some becoming homeless and broke, forcing them to steal or take a loan from a gang.
We would ask people why they had been shoplifting and were homeless. They would respond by saying “because you people cut my benefit”.
I never understood why anybody thought it was a good idea to kick people when they were already down.
Often people would fail to report in because they had no driver’s licence or car, or no money to pay for public transport. It was not uncommon for people to be arrested when they were driving to Probation because they had no licence. The reporting in system appeared to be designed to fail.
Chief Ombudsman Peter Boshier said Corrections were “over protective” about letting him into prisons and steps to keep out COVID-19 has been at the expense of some prisoners’ rights.
When I had an offender in front of me, I would inevitably think like a journalist. Why are they in this situation? What is their real story? How is it they have been doing the same dumb offending for 30 years?
A flick through their file would often reveal they had mental health issues or had a brain injury, an addiction to drugs or had been sexually abused. Many had been physically, mentally or sexually abused in the state organisations that were supposed to protect them.
I found it depressing that the offenders who came through our doors were overwhelmingly Māori. We did not keep statistics, but I would estimate 70 per cent. Pasifika males were also over-represented.
As of June, there were 9,469 people in our prisons. Māori make up 52.9 per cent of prisoners and Pasifika 11.7 percent – making them vastly over-represented since they make up 16 and 7 per cent of the population respectively.
My colleagues at Probation stoically did their best but seldom questioned how such a grim reality exists in New Zealand in 2020. Perhaps it was my background in journalism, but that is what troubled me the most.
The current situation only exists because we allow it to exist.
I might be naive but I believe that most people have a good heart and given a chance want to do nothing else but lead a happy life, have a family, and stay out of trouble.
The annual budget for Corrections in the current financial year is $2.429 billion. We are spending more each year on Corrections than the Government has spent in total on Treaty of Waitangi claims.
There is nothing glamorous about being a probation officer. Working with some of New Zealand’s most dangerous people on a daily basis, probation officers are expected to try to keep law-abiding citizens safe.
In my experience, probation officers put all their effort into high-risk offenders, concentrating not on rehabilitation but largely on making sure they do not endanger the public.
Training revolves around trying to avoid repeating the mistakes Probation made in dealing with Graham Burton, who murdered Karl Kuchenbecker in 2007 after Probation officers failed to adequately monitor him in Wellington.
Surprisingly, the name Kim Workman did not feature in our training.
Workman has spent decades studying and advocating for prison reform and the need to reduce recidivism. He has consistently argued that a Māori-led approach is the only way to reduce our shockingly high rate of Māori imprisonment. I agree.
Officers have a case load that often exceeds 40 people, and the job is dominated by paperwork. Rehabilitation was talked about and occasionally someone would claim a modest success, but mostly the job involved keeping track of offenders and making sure paperwork was up to date.
I saw little evidence the cause of the problems probation officers dealt with – institutionalised racism, poverty and our apparent reluctance to address the issues associated with gangs – were being addressed or even acknowledged.
A senior manager told me he saw no hope in the current generation and the answer was to lock them all up. He argued that all the effort should then be put into youth as the only way of breaking the cycle of recidivism.
From what I saw, the answer involves a radical change of thinking.
Prisons do not work and the billions we waste on Corrections should be spent on rehabilitation, better mental health facilities and reducing drug dependency. We also need to stop tolerating gangs and be much more proactive in stamping them out.
Corrections is looking at introducing widespread Māori restorative justice, which basically means letting Māori take responsibility for an area where Pākehā justice has failed them miserably.
A separate Māori justice system would be politically hard to accept but that is what the Labour-led Government effectively announced in August 2019 with its commitment to Hōkai Rangi.
It is a long-term strategy that aims to put oranga (wellbeing) and other core Māori values at the heart of the way Corrections deals with prisoners.
The goal is to drastically cut the number of Māori in prison to 16 per cent or less, in line with the overall Māori population.
The key point was that Māori should co-design the Corrections system, alongside the department, in a Treaty of Waitangi partnership, said Kelvin Davis, who was Corrections Minister at the time it was announced.
Before rejecting such an idea, we need to think about what a waste of money spending $2,429 billion on keeping people like Jack in prison.
Why not spend that money on finding a solution that actually works for him?
For this, Māori need to be at the centre of the decision-making process and be part of the solution, if we are to reduce recidivism and inmate numbers.
*Jack is a pseudonym.
Statistics
There are approximately 34,000 offenders serving community sentences such as home detention or community work.
It costs about $338 per day to keep someone in prison.
Māori make up 15 per cent of the population but more than 52 per cent of our prison population.
About 70 per cent of young prisoners are Māori. Young Pacific males who have committed violent offences are also significantly over-represented.
More than 80 per cent of prisoners have current or prior convictions for violent offending.
66 per cent of prisoners have been diagnosed with two or more mental health disorders.
87 per cent of prisoners are lifetime substance abusers.
52 per cent of women and 22 per cent of men in prison have a lifetime diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder.
More than a third of prisoners are affiliated to a gang.