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A Corrections Department investigation at Rimutaka Prison in Upper Hutt has found support for allegations of corruption and prison officers smuggling contraband to inmates.
Chief executive Barry Matthews said the claims were serious and, if they were substantiated, police would become involved and guilty parties would be dismissed.
This forum debate has now closed. Here is a selection of your views on the topic.
Here is the latest selection of your views:
D.V.F
Hard to believe when we are supposed to be a democracy that we still get so much corruption in Govt. depts. This is not the type of corruption many other countries face with politicians and officials lining their pockets with tax payers money, but corrupt systems that are inflicted on its nation from sheer stupidity alone. New Zealand is relatively a small country with limited resources, yet we squander our public money as if it were loose change. Although many things remain unclear, one thing that has become abundantly clear to the tax payer, is the present Govt. seem to have no conscience on how its spends taxpayer money.
Alan Wilkinson
It has been obvious that Corrections is one of the most dysfunctional government departments for years. The less it is entrusted to do the better. Prisons should be contracted out to private providers. Rehabilitation should be the same. Dangerous prisoners should only be released into the care of private businesses who must contract to take full responsibility for managing their return to independent life. Otherwise and if they do not cooperate they should stay in prison. It is doubtful that present management is even capable of administering such outsourcing. They should be replaced by a small group of competent people who can.
Judy Oborn
I think a special commission should be set up apart from the prison system who go on inspection tours of the facilities. The commission should not go by a set schedule so each facility would not know if they were targeted for inspection or when. It would need to be outside the prison system so the good old boy system would be out of play. The commission should have the authority to dismiss or suspend "any" prison employee or officer who is caught out in the inspection. This takes the authority out of the prison system and would possibly help with the control the gangs have over the prison guards or officials.
Stanley
The problems are not only inside the prisons referred to, but seems to be in many other prisons in NZ. I was told this by a friend working inside NZ prisons. He often spoke of the problems and frustration as a serving active warden trying to work with the old boys network. My friend is an individual of high integrity, He was my most senior employee for five years. After a number of years of trying to be heard' I told him to transfer to a less corrupt division of the Justice Dept. Please keep up your probing and investigations, there is much that needs exposing inside the prison system in NZ.
Lauren
I do not believe prisoners aim in life is to corrupt society at all. I just think they made some stupid decisions and need to pay the price. Unfortunately, prison generally doesnt teach them what they need to learn, in fact, it does the opposite, we see them turned in and out like a merry-go-round. Serve 1 year for stealing get out; steal some more then rotate back into prison for a year. These people can not be helped unless they want and have to feel truly sorry for what they have done (most don't). I would actually like to see prison sentences reflect their crime, I dont think 3 years is enough for rape or 14 years is enough for 1st degree murder. Life should mean life, teach the lessons that way, make them see that what they do holds a large price, their freedom.
Gary McCullough
Why are you showing a photo of a segment of the SOuth Wing of Mt Eden prison when you are doing a story on Wi Tako Prison or to be politically correct, Rimutaka Prison? I wasnt an inmate there but was an officer there in the 1980s. You will always have corruption in a prison and some corrupt officers. Why. Because 1. of the political correctness in NZ, local inmates local people as officers especially where the local Maori are concerned.
2. Familiarity breeds we have to live with those inmates on a day to day basis. No prison runs on the correct officer inmate ratio of 10:1 for med/minimum. We used to unlock a wing of 50 inmates with just 2 officers. If the s hit the fan we would be blamed from head office as we were not sticking to the rules.
Simply: a prison runs on the co-operation of the inmates and the inmates know it. Until the pen pushers at head office, who have never worked in a prison get it into the heads and the politicians, it will always be the same.
Philip
I think this is a very difficult problem to solve. I believe the smuggling of contraband into prisons will never be stopped but may be substantially lessened when a zero-tolerance approach is adopted by the prison management. This would apply to both prisoners and prison staff. The initial period would be the hardest as everyone will have to learn and adapt to the "new system." Once the prisoners come to the conclusion that they cannot "bribe" or "intimidate" prison staff to acquire contraband, the degree of this situation should gradually decrease. This approach must be constantly reviewed and any staff found to have contributed to any smuggling should be dealt with effectively.
Jessie Hume
Prisoners need to be treated with respect. The kind of respect that shows them that they are not worthless and the "trash" of society but teaches them to respect themselves and others. Those prisoners with substance abuse issues and mental health issues need to be give then help they need. There will always be individuals who perpetuate crime but I see our system as perpetuating crime. There have been enormous bodies of research into the best ways to stem repeat offending. Why cant we develop a system that is based on fact rather than the archaic ethos of retribution? I am not fond of the idiocy that is "lock em up and throw away the key." Whilst it may be emotionally satisfying for some, the practicality is that it does little to keep us safe at night for long because when a person exits that environment they are not in any way compassionate towards the rights and lives of others. When prisoners are raped, beaten and fed drugs in prison, does that make them a better or worse for society? Respect is about not giving them drugs, respect is about providing them with the tools to develop some sense of self worth and a feeling that they are in fact capable of making positive contributions and receiving positive responses. We are talking about people who frequently suffer from such gross imbalances in their sense of self worth that they often only know to use violence to express anger and theft to get what they want. The sense of self esteem is no doubt drastically lacking in the hearts and minds of these people who repeatedly act from a place of little hope. One they are treated with respect it is possible that they can learn to respect the society they are in. Not all but more, perhaps and more is what its all about.
Fed Up
Habitual criminals have no intention of being rehabilitated into civilised society. Their intention is to break down or create havoc within civilised society. My suggestion is for the prison authorities to create havoc among these criminals. The criminals uniforms should be in a shade of pink. Their accommodation should be tents without beds. There should be no eating utensils as these could be used as offensive weapons. Their food should be curried porridge for all meals. Their drinking fluid should only be water. The tents should be erected in the most inhospitable place possible. I suggest the Auckland Islands. Prison is a place no inmate should want to return to. It should be compulsory for the prisoners to do absolutely nothing every day, except contemplate the result of their wrong-doing. The prison wardens are to be given warm uniforms and accommodation of luxury, with food of good quality, otherwise the prisoners will have nothing to compare their conditions with. You may think these suggestions are harsh. I would suggest further then that members of our society have suffered inhuman treatment by these civil terrorists. For that is what they are. Turning the other cheek hasn't worked as it is regarded as a joke by these miscreants. You have had a wake-up call! Remember, you did ask for suggestions!
Marrianne
I believe that we start by banning cigarettes in prisons, for both staff and inmates alike. This is one of the ways in which things are brought and paid for, with inmates who do not even smoke purchasing tobacco products. From what I have been told everything has a price and there is no questions asked when a non-smoker uses his "allowance" to purchase smokes.The selection process for officers should also be stricter, having been through the process I was disheartened to see how the emphasis was on getting the numbers not the criteria right. It is only a start but with everything working correctly I believe we would rid the system of the corruption etc by following a few simple steps.
Richard Tere
"The investigation was progressing despite a lack of co-operation from Dr Coward and the Rijniers, who do not trust Corrections" This surely is a critical sentence in the report and indicates a system problem rather than the proverbial "few bad apples".
