Download Corrections News April 2005 (pdf: 614 KB)
Three teams from Waikeria entered the world-renowned event, contributing $4,000 towards the over $200,000 raised by the Waikato/Bay of Plenty Cancer Society.
The event required at least one member of each team to be on the track at any given time during the 24 hours. Corrections Officer Diane Bourgoyne did more than her fair share, walking for 20 hours.
Principal Corrections Officer Andy Barr, who coordinated the event for Waikeria, says he was impressed with the efforts of staff who took part and the positive reaction from the public to the Waikeria Prison teams.
“There was a social area set up with tents and a canopy, and staff were on hand to talk to the public about their role at Corrections. It was a great opportunity to talk about what we do.”
Team members wore distinctive navy blue t-shirts bearing the slogan “Making a difference in our community” on the front, and “Department of Corrections - Join us” on the back.
The Waikeria teams made a visual impact, especially on the final day when they walked en masse, carrying Corrections Department banners and signs identifying their team names.
The first lap of the event is walked by cancer survivors and after that by all registered participants. From there on in, walkers are rostered on to the track. Senior staff, unit managers, corrections officers and support administration staff were among the registered participants. Acting Regional Manager Gavin Dalziel also showed his support, walking many laps with team members.
“For 24 hours we walked as equals to raise money to assist someone more needy,” says Andy.
The annual event was enjoyed by all and no doubt this will not be the last time Relay for Life will see Corrections staff on the track showing their support!
Last month I was privileged to be one of more than 650 people who attended the opening of the Northland Region Corrections Facility (NRCF). The opening was the culmination of around eight years’ planning and construction activity, and represented a significant step towards Corrections’ goal of reducing reoffending.
Corrections spends more than $9 million a year on reintegration initiatives and there is a lot of good work being done in prisons around the country to help inmates reintegrate into the community. NRCF is a modern, purpose-built facility designed specifically to support the reintegration and rehabilitation of inmates. It will take those existing initiatives a step further, with plans for a dedicated staff member responsible for coordinating reintegration services for inmates who are one year from their release date or parole hearing.
There are currently around 1,500 inmates at work in New Zealand prisons as part of Corrections Inmate Employment programmes, and every year more than 1,000 inmates take part in education programmes such as the National Certificate in Employment Skills (NCES). Intervention Services, established last year as part of Probation and Offender Services, delivers programmes designed to address inmates’ motivation to change their offending behaviour. All of these programmes have a common purpose - to help rehabilitate and reintegrate offenders and reduce re-offending.
The legislation underpinning Corrections’ activities has also been overhauled in a way that will support the strategic direction of the Department and the focus on reintegration and rehabilitation. The Corrections Act 2004 was four years in the making and is the first major review of the legislation that guides our work since the Penal Institutions Act 1954. I would like to acknowledge the efforts of staff across the Department for their contribution not only to the development of the Act but also its implementation, through changes to manuals, training material, the Integrated Offender Management System and the complaints system. Thank you for your efforts.
Remember ‘the old days’ when the six o’clock news and Morning Report were the major sources of information for New Zealanders? The Internet was unknown and cellphones were ‘bricks’ that only the hardy dared carry or use.
Changing times have seen changes in the way organisations provide information to the media, reflecting the twenty-four hour nature of news media operations.
Now, to improve journalists’ access to information about the Department and its work, Corrections has developed a media centre on its website.
The media centre contains links to facts and statistics, outlines policies relating to media access to inmates and to Corrections’ facilities, and includes a guide to help journalists find the right source to answer questions that relate both to Corrections and the wider justice sector.
“We receive hundreds of requests from the media each year,” says Communications Manager Zelda MacKenzie. “The answers to many of these can be found online. Hopefully the media centre will become a first stop for the media, particularly as the depth of information available on it continues to grow.
“As it’s a new initiative, we’d love to hear directly from journalists what sort of information they’d find particularly useful. That way we can tailor this section of the site to meet their needs even further.”
For ideas and feedback, email commdesk@corrections.govt.nz Finding the media centre
Go to www.corrections.govt.nz and click on News and Publications. There you’ll see a link to the media centre in the navigation bar on the left of the screen.
Two new recruits recently joined the Department, their mission: to keep contraband out of prisons.
Hank and Rocky graduated as Detector Dogs at a ceremony at the Police Dog Training College in March. The two dogs, a pedigree pointer and a cross-breed, came to Corrections from the the Waitakere Animal Shelter where they faced either rehousing or, worse, destruction.
But Animal Welfare Officer Samantha Kingston saw the dogs had potential. After testing their drive to retrieve, she was confident they could be trained and contacted the Department with an offer to donate the dogs.
Hank has been assigned to handler Mo Toeke, and will work at Northland Region Corrections Facility. Rocky has been assigned to Peter Dalrymple-Mortleman, himself a new recruit from the United Kingdom working in the Wellington region.
“Rocky and I didn’t get off to the best start, but we work well as a team now and he constantly amazes me with his drive. He will go the extra mile to retrieve contraband,” says Peter.
These lucky dogs have gone from an unknown future to a stimulating working life.
“Detecting contraband is all these dogs want to do,” says Mo.
You can find out more about what the Department is doing to fight drugs in prisons by reading Strategy to Reduce Drug and Alcohol Use by Offenders 2005-2008, available at www.corrections.govt.nz .
The intense and spiritual nature of a maraebased Community Probation Service (CPS) programme is being touted as a key factor in its success.
Te Wairua O Nga Tangata Maori (the spirit of the Maori people) is a five day noho (stayover) for Maori offenders, facilitated through CPS at Orakei Marae in Auckland. Facilitator Tina Inglis says the offenders first set foot on the marae on the Monday.
“And they don’t leave until Friday, after their whaikorero (talk) tracing their whakapapa (geneology) back to the waka their ancestors first arrived in New Zealand on,” says Tina.
Since these must be presented in front of gathered family members in te reo Maori, and many of the offenders have not spoken te reo Maori or been on a marae previously, this can a challenging prospect.
“You would be amazed to find out how many urban Maori have never been on a marae like this one, which the people of Ngati Whatua provide for us.”
The purpose of the noho is to introduce tikanga to Maori offenders.
“It is about helping these offenders build up the self-motivation to change, through tikanga,” says Tina.
“We address offending, self-esteem issues, teamwork and introduce the family into the discussion.”
On day one of the course, the kawa (house rules) are set out and from there the group begins to discuss their family and offending.
This is always done in front of the group of around seven to 15 people.
“With men and women both present and expressing their thoughts and feelings, you get some especially powerful moments. The course has been running for five years now, but it still touches you,” says Tina.
“We often get male offenders who have been convicted of (the charge of) male assaults female, and then there are women sitting opposite that offender who have been victims of that and can say just why it hurts so personally.”
Anticipating an average increase in energy purchase prices of 36 percent, Corrections has put in place a five year Energy Management Strategy to improve its sustainability, save energy and reduce energyrelated costs.
Implemented in 2003, the Strategy aims to save energy by investing in energy efficiency. Opportunites for energy efficiency range from low technology initiatives such as replacing light bulbs and showerheads with energy efficient models, to installing sophisticated building controls to manage heating and air conditioning. Energy Manager Cees Ebskamp says Corrections aims to save $1 million over the five year period.
“Since we started implementing the Energy Management Strategy, we have already saved $550,000.
“All prisons have undergone energy audits and we’re currently working through the implementation of more energy efficient initiatives at each site.
“Energy management plans are being developed at a regional level, and further training workshops for staff are planned for later in the year.”
The four new regional corrections facilities comply with Corrections’ Energy Brief, which sets a very high standard for energy efficiency. The recently opened Northland Region Corrections Facility features efficient hot water boilers, lighting and building controls. A solar water heating feasibility study is underway for the Spring Hill Corrections Facility, with high efficiency lighting and hot water boilers proposed. Similar measures will be introduced at the Auckland Region Women’s Corrections Facility.
Energy modeling and simulation for the Otago Region Corrections Facility has produced a ‘state of the art’ green building, and will be written up as a case study for the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority.
“Corrections is recognised as having one of the most comprehensive energy management strategies in the public sector,” says Cees.
“Energy management is an ongoing process and improvements can always be made by building on existing programmes. We are now starting to reap the benefits of a lot of work by a lot of people.
“We intend to keep reinvesting savings made through energy initiatives and to continue to target various systems, monitor results, and work closely with major energyconsuming groups and services in Corrections.
“It’s an exciting time to be implementing energy efficiency because so much more is possible today than even three years ago.” A monitoring and targeting software programme purchased at the end of last year will mean prisons can be individually monitored for their energy use to check expenditure and make comparisons about the initiatives in place.
“For years I have cherished this pendant, but recently it was lost… Please help me replace this pendant. It really means a lot to me,” wrote Ohio corrections employee Sandra Reiter, in an email to the Department’s Ministerial Coordinator.
The Ministerial Coordinator, based in Corrections’ Communications Unit, receives email enquiries from people around New Zealand and the world. Topics are diverse, and not all relate to corrections issues.
Ministerial Coordinator Madeline Smith says while many emails come from inmates’ friends and whanau, wanting to know the process for visiting, telephoning inmates, or posting gifts, others come from further afield.
“People around the world seeking contact with law enforcement authorities find their way to the Corrections website, as do students, writers and researchers from a range of disciplines requesting information or assistance,” says Madeline.
Overseas corrections organisations utilise the immediacy of email to ask about New Zealand research, and send invitations to conferences. It was at a conference 12 years ago that Sandra bought her pendant from a Department of Corrections employee.
Staff were touched by Sandra’s interest in Maori culture and Corrections’ vocational programmes. Wanganui Prison Corrections Inmate Employment Site Operations Manager Julie Gowan arranged for a replacement pendant - a beef bone manaia from the Maori Focus Unit. The carver has made sales to a local store and plans to make a career of carving on his release.
Karen returned from Kosovo in January after a United Nations posting to Dubrava Prison, where she was appointed Deputy Director. Her principal responsibilities were to set up and run the high-security facility containing Kosovar Albanian war criminals and mafia-style organised criminals.
Due to the sensitive nature of managing war criminals, the United Nations decided it was more appropriate for international officers to be assigned to the Prison rather than local officers. Karen’s staff came from European countries such as Germany, Italy, Bulgaria and Hungary.
“The Kosovo mission was an Englishspeaking mission, but in reality communication with my officers was difficult at times,” says Karen.
“It was a hugely challenging experience and nothing at all like New Zealand prisons.”
During her time there Karen was the Incident Commander of five major incidents. She was the negotiator when an inmate with a live hand grenade took 60 fellow inmates hostage. It was later discovered that a local staff member had smuggled the hand grenade into the Prison.
Karen found that salaries were so low, corruption and bribery were rife and violence an ingrained behaviour used to resolve conflicts.
“The contraband problem in Kosovo is explosives rather than drugs,” says Karen.
“There is so much corruption that inmates can threaten locals and their families, forcing them to smuggle contraband into the Prison.”
Being a woman brought its own set of challenges. The men were certainly not accustomed to seeing women working.
“I was the on-scene commander at the time of all the major incidents, so the officers came to respect my ability to manage situations,” explains Karen.
Karen vividly recalls the time she walked into her first incident.
“The noise of screaming and chanting and weapons being sharpened on bars was incredible. You’re wondering if they have firearms, and the smell of smoke from the fires they’d lit hits you. There were rocks flying and 60 inmates kicking their way out. The terrified local staff had run away. I was terrified myself, I’ll never forget it.
“My lowest moment came after about a year, when there was no electricity for four days. I was huddled around a wood fire in my accommodation, wrapped in a blanket.
The only food I had was a tin of asparagus and as it was minus 20 degrees even that was frozen! That’s when I thought - ‘I want to go home!’”
Thankfully the European officers would bring back salami and cheese from their home countries, which broke up the monotony of pickled cabbage and peppers.
Another challenge in an already tense environment was the lack of facilities for special needs. There were no proper safe cells for high-risk inmates and no medical professionals to call on. Overcrowding was a huge problem, with up to eight inmates to a cell due to the increased arrest rate and the destruction of other prison buildings.
However, Karen says the Kosovar inmates like to be in a cell with others, as they feel like they are on a punishment regime if they are on their own.
On a positive note, Karen was able to contribute to Kosovo Correctional Services by designing a prison complaints process and an Emergency Response Plan.
Karen is also proud of the work she and other international managers have done to develop Emergency Response Teams trained in control and restraint (C and R) as well as a large dog section trained in explosives detection.
“The officers were very well trained and skilled at C and R techniques and had to go into some extremely dangerous situations. They also rescued a lot of inmates from these situations.”
Karen believes the underlying Serb-Kosovar ethnic conflict is a long way off resolution, but she is pleased the Kosovo infrastructure is taking shape again. Slowly prison facilities and systems are being restored with the continuing help of international missions like hers.
Teaching inmates the skills they need to succeed outside prison is the aim behind Corrections’ commitment to education.
Many prison inmates have no formal qualifications, with only about 16 percent recorded as having the equivalent of school certificate or higher.
Public Prisons Service Manager Business Development Susan Provan says, “education helps inmates acquire skills and knowledge that will increase their chances of post-release employment and successful reintegration back into society”.
All inmates are assessed on entry to prison to determine their literacy and numeracy skills.
Information from this assessment is included in inmates’ sentence plans and is used to guide the programmes they receive.
Corrections provides a standard numeracy and literacy programme for inmates who lack foundation skills. The programme aims to allow inmates to overcome this barrier to further learning so they can participate in employment skills programmes while in prison and function more successfully in the community on release.
Inmates who are already at a point of functional literacy, or who reach that point after completing the numeracy and literacy programme, are encouraged to move onto the National Certificate in Employment Skills (NCES).
The NCES is registered on the New Zealand qualifications framework. It is offered to inmates who have basic literacy and numeracy skills but have not attained levels 2 and 3 of the National Certificate in Education Achievement (NCEA).
Since June 2004, the Department, through its external education providers, has delivered over 14,000 tutor hours, resulting in over 19,000 unit standards being achieved by inmates. Seventy five inmates went on to complete the qualification.
Susan says achieving the NCES can give inmates confidence they are competent in basic work skills such as oral and written communication, teamwork, problem solving and self-management, as well as literacy and numeracy.
Linda Clareburt, Managing Director of Literacy Training, which delivers NCES courses in Auckland and Christchurch, says inmates respond positively to the programme.
“For many it’s the first time they have had a real opportunity to earn a qualification.”
Linda attended the first graduation of inmates. “Families were invited and we could see they were so proud, because many of the inmates had never achieved anything positive in their lives.”
It takes between one and two years of study to complete the NCES, requiring an ongoing commitment from inmates. Although some drop out before completing the course, Linda says even those inmates benefit from the learning and unit standards obtained along the way.
“Real motivation needs to be maintained and the inmates kept on track throughout the programme. Not all will stick with it, but they get so much out of achieving their units - it’s very rewarding to be involved.”
Inmates at Rimutaka Prison’s Faith Based Unit have been getting in touch with their feelings in a programme called Man to Man.
The course, which originates from a church in Melbourne, Australia, is a 12-step recovery programme similar in style to Alcoholics Anonymous. The aim is to increase inmates’ emotional awareness and redefine what it means to them to be a man.
The focus is on healing, emotions, addictions, conflict resolution and intimacy.
“The inmates learn that having emotions is legitimate,” says Unit Manager Richard Symonds.
The course is delivered to inmates in the “restoration” phase of their sentence. This is the third and final phase when inmates are working on release issues and preparing to re-enter the community.
At the graduation of the course recently, inmates had to speak in front of the group.
Many said the material “hurt” because it was so close to their own reality.
“The inmates got a huge amount out of it and showed they are starting to think the right way,” says Richard.
Christchurch, Rimutaka, Wanganui, Tongariro/Rangipo and Hawke’s Bay Prisons are set to expand to accommodate growing numbers of prison inmates in 2005.
The additional beds are on top of more than 1,600 beds due to come on-stream over the next two years. The 350-bed Northland Region Corrections Facility will start receiving inmates at the end of this month, and its progressive commissioning will help ease some of the pressure on existing prisons.
Three more corrections facilities are being built to increase prison capacity, with the first of those - Auckland Region Women’s Corrections Facility - due to open next year.
Corrections moved quickly in 2004 to relieve an unexpected increase in inmate numbers, boosting prison capacity by 600 beds through the use of its four percent operational buffer. Funding for 493 additional beds and supporting infrastucture was approved by the Government last year, with the first 40 of these due to open this month and a further 300 beds to come into service progressively through to October.
Construction of the final 150 beds will be completed in April 2006.
Public Prisons Service (PPS) General Manager Phil McCarthy is proud of the way the Service responded to the growth in inmate numbers during 2004.
“The dedication and professionalism of staff, along with support from the Police, the
Ministry of Justice and unions, meant we were able to manage the high inmate numbers through the peak months.” Corrections has been working with other justice sector agencies, particularly the Ministry of Justice and Police, to meet the challenges posed by the increase in inmate numbers. PPS managers have also been talking with the Public Service Association and Corrections Association of New Zealand - the two unions that represent corrections officers - about initiatives to manage inmate numbers and the wider issues of recruitment and retention of prison staff.
The success of PPS’s recruitment campaign last year enabled it to fill vacancies in prisons around the country. There has also been a high level of interest in new positions that will become available as prison capacity is increased over the next three years.
However, Phil says the ongoing growth in inmate numbers will continue to put pressure on prisons during 2005.
The Annual Update of Forecasts of the Prison Population, prepared by the Ministry of Justice and released in January, predicts the number of prison inmates will increase from an average of 6,865 in 2004/05 to an average of 7,880 in 2009/10. The average number of inmates in 2003/04 was 6,313.
Justice Minister Hon Phil Goff says, “offenders are getting longer jail terms and serving more of that sentence behind bars, and the most serious offenders are getting sentences of record length. Reforms to preventive detention in the Sentencing Act 2002 have resulted in as many serious recidivist offenders receiving the life-long sentence in the last two years as in the previous five years."
These factors, combined with the higher resolution rates being achieved by Police, are contributing to the increase in inmate numbers.
New Zealand’s 50 year-old Penal Institutions Act will be replaced on 1 June by the new Corrections Act 2004. The Corrections Regulations 2005 will also come into effect, replacing The Penal Institutions Regulations 2000.
Acting Policy Development General Manager Bronwyn Donaldson says over the past decade the ageing legislation has increasingly fallen out of step with modern conditions, and Corrections’ approach to managing offenders.
“Many incremental changes have been made to the 1954 Act, making it unnecessarily complex and difficult to follow,” she says.
“The law governing the corrections system must be compatible in its philosophy and specific provisions with other criminal justice legislation.
“That was highlighted when the Sentencing Act 2002 and the Parole Act 2002 were introduced.
“Still, many parts of the old Act remain relevant and have needed no updating.”
Although the current regulations have been in place for only five years, and many of them can be carried forward, it was necessary to develop a new set of regulations to implement changes made by the new Act.
One of the four key purposes of the corrections system, as set out in the new Corrections Act, centres around the rehabilitation and reintegration of offenders.
“We need to ensure we assist their reintegration into the community through programmes, education and the best possible use of Department and community services,” says Bronwyn.
“There are major benefits every time we stop somebody re-offending - less crime, fewer victims and a lower cost to society.”
Linked to this is the Act’s recognition of the United Nations’ Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, as influencing the operation of corrections facilities.
The two other primary purposes set out in the Act are the safe, secure and humane containment of prisoners and supporting Courts and the New Zealand Parole Board with information that assists their decisionmaking.
The Act comes after an extensive period of public consultation that included public meetings and hui.
The Department published two documents, Better Corrections Law for New Zealand - A Public Discussion Document and Better Corrections Law - Summary of Submissions on Better Corrections Law for New Zealand, to explain the issues involved, collect public feedback, and disseminate the results of that feedback. There was further opportunity for public involvement when the Bill went through the Select Committee process.
“What we have now is a legislative framework that puts public safety first and helps Corrections staff do the best possible job,” says Bronwyn.
In a concerted effort to stamp out the introduction of contraband to prisons, corrections officers will have increased search powers. The Act permits an enhanced stripsearching procedure to be carried out when there are reasonable grounds to believe an offender is concealing contraband.
The use of non-lethal weapons may be authorised by regulations under the new Act, but this is subject to stringent restrictions and
safeguards. When the new legislation comes into force, batons will be the only weapon authorised for use in prisons.
And the new Act introduces a principles clause for the first time.
“The principles clause states that the maintenance of public safety is the paramount consideration in decisions about the management of offenders. Victims’ interests must also be considered under the new legislation.”
The Rimutaka Prison joinery has been busy making beds for the retail industry as part of a Corrections Inmate Employment (CIE) strategy to become more efficient in manufacturing and production.
Since February, the joinery has been making CIE-designed king and queen size beds, king singles, regular singles and child size beds. Made from radiata pine timber, they are being dispatched to North and South Island retail suppliers.
“Moving away from a jobbing approach to a manufacturing line with a smaller number of fixed items makes us more efficient, with better work flows and more consistent training for the inmates,” says Acting Timber Sector Manager Mark Nicholls.
“It also allows us to have better control of raw materials and stock. Standardising the range makes it easier to produce and makes the quality control easier.”
Although still in the early stages, the refined manufacturing is proving successful. Plans are also underway to more closely align the Youth Unit’s joinery training with the furniture production.
In a recent workshop, Bruno Cayoun 1 presented a "mindfulness-based" cognitive behaviour therapy approach. This model proposes that mind and body constantly interact simultaneously to process information whether a person is aware of this or not. Mindfulness training, the deliberate and active observation and disengagement from such interactions, leads to the development of an ability to remain untroubled by experienced events, and the ability to free oneself from habitual ways of responding.
Cayoun proposes that mindfulness and cognitive behavioural approaches share the common aim of encouraging the evaluation of maladaptive beliefs and attitudes in order to assist in the development of a more objective reality about oneself and the world.
Cayoun has developed a four-stage model of mindfulness-based cognitive behavioural treatment. In the first stage, clients develop the ability to objectively observe events within the framework of their bodily sensations and thoughts, and these skills are then used throughout the remainder of treatment. The second stage includes challenging unhelpful behaviours and assumptions about external triggers. In stage three, clients are involved in interpersonal social skills training and equanimity-based assertiveness training. The final stage of the programme fosters the development of empathy towards people with whom the client has been in conflict.
This approach is particularly relevant to offenders who have entrenched anti-social beliefs supportive of offending behaviour. Utilising a mindfulness approach to treatment, offenders can be assisted to become more astute observers of their experiences and their own reactions to events, as opposed to being trapped in habitual ways of interpreting events.
Mindfulness skills have been included in the Department’s Criminogenic Programme for women offenders, an approach which was recently successfully piloted in institutional settings.
The solution was simple but the rewards have been substantial following a North Shore Community Work Centre initiative to provide transport for Community Work offenders.
Service Manager Meri Ruwhiu says the idea came out of listening to both staff and offenders.
“Offenders from areas such as Warkworth, Wellsford and further north were finding it difficult and stressful to get to Glenfield and meet up with their Community Work teams, go out to work, and get back home again.”
Reporting rates reflected the difficulties offenders faced getting to and from work. Offenders sometimes had to ask family members, who had been working during the week, to ferry them around. Meri says the situation was especially problematic for workers who were disqualified drivers and might feel “tempted to offend again”.
Under the transport scheme, offenders are met at designated pickup/drop off points at Wellsford and Warkworth, meaning they are on site ready to start work at approximately 8.30am.
The reaction from the offenders has been very positive. “They want to be included in a van, so staff can use the lifts as a kind of reward system, where non-attendance can result in workers missing out on getting a ride and having to transport themselves,” says Meri.
“We started with one van, now we have two and we are thinking of running a third to meet the demand.”
Work on the Auckland Region Women’s Corrections Facility (ARWCF) is progressing well and on track for completion in mid-2006.
Construction is well underway on 13 of the 38 buildings that will make up the 286-bed facility near Auckland International Airport, in Manukau. Around 230 construction staff are working on the site, with numbers expected to peak at over 440 when construction activities increase later this year.
ARWCF is the first purpose-built facility in New Zealand designed to cater to the specific needs of women inmates and to actively support the rehabilitation and reintegration of inmates.
Women currently make up a small but high-need proportion of the prison population, around five percent, but the number of women in prison is on the increase.
1 Cayoun, B. A. (2004). Mindfulness-based Cognitive Behaviour Therapy: Principles and Guidelines. Workshop workbook.
Cayoun, B. A. (2004). Advances in mindfulness training integration: Towards a non-dualistic cognitive behaviour therapy. Paper presented at the 2004 biennial conference of the Australian Psychological Society’s Buddhism and Psychology Interest Group, Deakin University, Melbourne, Australia.
Got a story for Corrections News or want to request the print edition?
Email commdesk@corrections.govt.nz or phone (04) 460 3365.
ISSN 1178-8453