Prison Riots are a symptom of something far more damaged in NZ society

Mt Eden prison: Corrections fail to declare ‘Code Red’ as prisoners destroy day room, light fire in cell

Two prisoners at Mt Eden Corrections Facility were already rioting when another lit a fire in his cell, it’s now been revealed.

RNZ earlier reported a man started a small fire in his prison cell on Sunday evening, triggering fire crew attendance. It’s now been revealed staff were already dealing with two other prisoners who were destroying a recreation room in a different unit at the same time.

Corrections Association vice president Paul Dennehy said the men were put in the room while staff searched their cell for tattoo equipment and weapons.

…this after this…

Police still investigating incident at youth justice facility

Emergency services were called to what was only described as “an incident” at Te Puna Wai o Tūhinapō in Rolleston, Christchurch.

The facility is an Oranga Tamariki – Ministry for Children – youth justice residence that has a capacity for up to 40 young people.

…our desire to punish has an enormous cost and it’s a cost that the underfunded prison system can barely cover.

What we are seeing here is the result of understaffing and over crowded prisons, it is only a matter of time before a prison riot breaks out.

What we are facing across NZ is the lack of well funded universal services.

We don’t have well funded universal services because the capacity of the State has been purposely restricted.

The 30 year neoliberal experiment cut the State back to the bone and the political project for the Right is to constantly starve the State of revenue so it can’t redistribute.

We need a State with more capacity.

We need more Nurses, more drs, more hospitals, more police, more Army, more Teachers, more schools, more corrections officers, better public transport, better prisons, our own pharmaceutical industry, and we can only fund that by taxing the fucking rich!

Tax the Banks, tax the speculators, tax the rich and fund the greater capacity State we urgently require.

Prison Riots will force this debate.

 

 

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