Minister backs more home detention

Damien O'Connor

A rise in the use of home detention to counter prison overcrowding problems is being pushed by Corrections Minister Damien O'Connor.

The Department of Corrections has said in briefing papers to the minister that higher than projected inmate numbers -- caused by changes to bail and sentencing laws and a drop in the use of home detention -- are set to continue past 2010.

The high inmate numbers, which have seen inmates forced into police and court cells and even parked vans for short periods, were placing pressure on prison facilities and staff.

The only "credible option", the department said, was to build new prisons.

Mr O'Connor said today the Government was confident the inmate numbers could be handled within the existing prison construction programme, which would add 1600 beds by the end of 2007.

Other things that could help were further expanding capacity at existing prisons, more crime prevention work, and increased support and rehabilitation to prisoners once they were released.

An increase in home detention rates would also help, he said.

"Home detention has in fact reduced over the last couple of years when we... expected the numbers to go up.

"So you've got to ask questions why that has occurred and if there is an ability to increase that."

Outcomes from the scheme were good, he said. "We've just got to make sure that the judges and Parole Board are looking very carefully and perhaps they can reassess some of those cases they currently have in prison."

He acknowledged it was possible judges and the Parole Board had become nervous about using home detention due to high-profile political attacks on the scheme.

But he said in the end it was up to judges and the Parole Board to decide which individual cases warranted home detention.

The Government was not planning any changes to sentencing laws.

His position on home detention could put him at odds with government support partner New Zealand First, which campaigned on tightening up the scheme and won a review as part of its support deal.

NZ First law and order spokesman Ron Mark today said the party wanted to stop home detention for violent offenders and "back-end" home detention -- where inmates spent the last few months of their prison sentence at home.

He said a start date had not yet been set for the review, but he was looking forward to meeting Mr O'Connor and talking about the issue.

- NZPA