Maori at risk of longer sentences officer complains

Maori offenders are victims of an "unfortunate experiment" putting them at risk of longer sentences than Pakeha committing similar crimes, the Waitangi Tribunal has been told.

It is hearing an urgent claim from Napier probation officer Tom Hemopo, alleging that an assessment system the Corrections Department introduced in 2001 to reduce Maori reoffending has actually entrenched prejudice and discrimination.

Mr Hemopo told the tribunal in Wellington yesterday that the system, based on a computerised questionnaire, concentrates on negative aspects of Maori culture and treats Maori offenders differently from others. He wants the tribunal to rule the system breaches the Treaty of Waitangi.

His lawyer, Grant Powell, said the system was a fundamentally flawed "unfortunate experiment" that distorted Maori culture, treating it as inherently violent and automatically viewing Maori offenders as being of greater risk of reoffending.

Corrections introduced its "risk of reconviction and risk of imprisonment" system in 2001.

All offenders who are found guilty or plead guilty are assessed under it for their pre-sentence probation report to gauge their risk of reoffending.

Answers to about 90 criteria are fed into a computer to produce a score that grades risks. But the system as introduced automatically gave a higher score to offenders who gave Maori as their ethnicity than it did to a non-Maori offender of similar background who committed a similar crime.

Mr Hemopo objected when the system was introduced, but was warned by his superiors disciplinary action could follow if he refused to attend a training course in it.

He lodged a claim with the Waitangi Tribunal in 2002, but the hearing was delayed when Corrections said it was reviewing the system.

The review has been done and some changes made, including "zero rating" the ethnicity score, but in Mr Hemopo's view serious flaws remain.

Offenders who self-identify as Maori are given a "Maori cultural related needs" assessment that Mr Powell said distorted Maori culture.

It includes such leading questions as: "Leading up to the assault, you had thoughts about how the barman deliberately made you wait to be served because you were Maori ... Do you strongly agree that your inability to cope in helpful ways with the negative thoughts and feelings about cultural differences made the offence more likely to occur?"

The tribunal was told the system was introduced to help Maori offenders, but had actually made things worse by leading to probation reports that made Maori look higher-risk offenders than others committing similar crimes.

 

- NZPA