Bullying, access to drugs and phones areas of concern at Hawke’s Bay Regional Prison

A report found concerns at Hawke's Bay Regional Prison, including bullying and access to drugs and cellphones. Photo / Tom Kitchin, RNZ

By Alexa Cook of RNZ

A report into Hawke’s Bay Regional Prison has found some areas of concern including bullying and prisoner access to drugs and cellphones.

The Office of the Inspectorate visited the prison from February 20 to 28 this year, talking to 109 prisoners and 187 staff and service providers.

At the time of the inspection there were 682 people in the prison – 475 of them Māori – and nearly 100 prisoners were working in a variety of prison jobs.

In her findings, Chief Inspector Janie Adair said the inspection found many areas of positive practice, but also some areas of concern.

However, the Office of the Inspectorate also noted all prisoners were offered the minimum entitlement of at least one hour in the open air every day, a good range of programmes was available, and there was a wide range of constructive activities, including jobs, education, programmes and volunteer activity.

“It was pleasing to see that some Māori prisoners, particularly those in specialist units (such as Te Tirohanga Unit and Te Whare Oranga Ake), had access to cultural practices and programmes,” Adair said.

The Department of Corrections has responded to the report, saying it acknowledged the findings and has been working on addressing the issues over the past eight months.

Custodial services commissioner Leigh Marsh said as with many other large organisations in New Zealand, Corrections has experienced recruitment challenges in recent years.

“However, due to the success of our recruitment campaign and turnover for corrections officers having almost halved in the last two years, staffing levels have increased across the prison estate, with a significant number of staff recruited over a short period.

“Through structured pathways, all staff are receiving continuous training and support, which includes new staff following a guided schedule upon returning from training college, supported by a buddy system and oversight from the on-site management,” he said.

On the issue of contraband, Corrections said it was a “longstanding challenge in all prison environments”.

“With many prisoners going to extreme lengths to get contraband into prisons, we are constantly working to stay one step ahead in contraband prevention,” Marsh said.

Hawke’s Bay Regional Prison has expanded its site emergency response team to operate seven days a week, he said.

“The prison has also implemented enhanced security measures during visits, with Sert [special emergency response team] and intel teams conducting prison telephone monitoring system reviews and maintaining a presence at entry points. Cell searches have increased and the use of drug dogs is being expanded,” he said.

Corrections highlighted the prison has one of the highest gang-affiliated populations nationally, as well as a high remand and high-security cohort.

“This does mean a higher proportion of prisoners are on more restrictive regimes to ensure the safety of themselves, other prisoners and our staff,” Marsh said.

He said regimes were subject to regular review and ways to safely increase the time prisoners spent outside of cells were being explored. The prison was also installing air conditioning units in some areas.

“Prisons can be extremely volatile environments and heat can significantly increase prisoner tension and aggression, creating a real risk that a staff member or prisoner could be seriously hurt.”

– RNZ