Increasing prison beds will not deter crime, say experts. Photo / Dean Purcell
Having more prison beds will neither help serious offenders turn away from a life of crime nor reduce it in Aotearoa, particularly in Northland, experts say.
Their response comes after the Government committed to investing $1.9 billion to revive the Waikato mega prison plan during the 2024 Budget announcement.
The plan is for the Government to build 800 more beds at Waikato’s Waikeria Prison as part of its four-year spend on Corrections. The plan also includes more corrections officers and an increase in rehabilitation funds.
Figures provided by Corrections show that as of May 23, there were 521 people imprisoned at the Northland Region Corrections Facility. But the department was unavailable to provide data on how many Northlanders were serving sentences at Waikeria Prison.
University of Waikato professor of psychology and crime science Devon Polaschek said most people would find it interesting that the rate of crime was not “statistically linked” to the rate of imprisonment.
“I can understand the value of taking violent offenders out of circulation. But using prisons to deter crime or reoffending doesn’t work.”
Instead, Polaschek believes that people discharged from prison are worse off than when they were first taken into custody, since prisons weren’t a healthy environment.
Former gang leader Martin Kaipo, now the Ōtangarei Youth Sports and Recreation Trust general manager in Whangārei, said prisons were a system where offenders were schooled into becoming better criminals.
“From my experience, containing them is only going to increase their resentment. I’m also aware of prisoners mixing with other hardened inmates to season themselves in their trade.
“And you can be certain that those skills they acquire are not to make some contribution to society but to other negative activities, more likely,” Kaipo said.
Polaschek felt it was unfortunate to have a significant population of prisoners on remand – people who were innocent until proven guilty.
It’s a statement that Corrections doesn’t dispute. Currently, 45 per cent of the total population (9,681 as of May 21) were remand prisoners, said Corrections commissioner custodial services, Leigh Marsh.
Last year’s figures provided by Corrections show that the average volume of those in remand was 3522 people and the average length of their stay was 79 days.
“For such people to mix with hardened criminals in prisons is worrisome,” Polaschek said.
She recalled a time she had the opportunity to talk with inmates, especially gang members.
“Since they have little to do in prison, they get bored and often think about who they could pick a fight with. Because for them, that’s a form of entertainment.”
There was also anecdotal evidence that different gangs pressured inmates into joining them to guarantee their safety. And once in the fold, it was almost impossible to leave.
As a result, gang membership in the country has since seen an increase, she said.
As of June 30 last year, 37 per cent of the national prison population had gang affiliations, Corrections data show.
A Corrections statement said the figure does not differentiate between confirmed patched members, associates or prospects.
According to Polaschek, if the Government’s policy on patch bans and other tough-on-gang programmes goes ahead, it would only put more people behind bars, cause prisons to run out of beds and see more recruitment happen.
“I know several people [who] won’t easily leave gangs as that’s where their friends and family are and where they feel accepted.”
Adding to her comment, Kaipo said not just gangs but offenders in general were people who took a wrong turn in life while trying to make ends meet.
“When he can’t feed his children or protect them, he’s definitely going to go loopy. So, building more prison beds is the Government’s answer to such a problem. Then it’s just a joke.”
Social advocate Carol Peters said having more prison beds was also counterproductive.
For her, investing in early preventive measures such as educating children in schools, dealing with poverty, good policing and family plans went a long way over investing in prisons, which were an “expensive failure”.
Corrections data from 2023 show that the average cost of keeping a prisoner for one day was $555, which includes programmes and other services. The average volume of prisoners was 4611.
When calculated annually, the cost for one prisoner last year amounts to about $120,000. The price to imprison the average volume of people costs more than $550 million.
Corrections Minister Mark Mitchell said what he considers a failure is a 33 per cent increase in violent crimes and a doubling of retail crime.
“The Government doesn’t want to put people in prison. We would prefer that people never become offenders in the first place. However, the reality is that people do offend – often violently – and that causes a lot of harm to our communities.”
Mitchell said there was a reason why they were also investing $78m to extend rehabilitation programmes. And it was all about allowing the offenders to break the cycle of crime and reoffending.
Corrections’ Marsh said their case managers worked one-on-one with prisoners and “made every effort” to provide interventions and treatment to all imprisoned before their release or parole hearing.
However, Kaipo felt that Corrections could have a more culturally sensitive and efficient rehab programme for Māori prisoners after someone he knew had to serve more than 30 years in prison, despite seemingly proving he was fit to rejoin society. The authorities disagreed.
For Polaschek, it would be difficult for Corrections to reform a prisoner who didn’t want to change for the better.
“Even if everything goes right in rehab, the outgoing person has to face society, find a job, take care of their family and so on. And based on persisting circumstances, [they] can think to reoffend.”
Avneesh Vincent is the crime and emergency services reporter at the Northern Advocate. He was previously at the Gisborne Herald as the arts and environment reporter and is passionate about covering stories that can make a difference. He joined NZME in July 2023.