Corrections’ whole reason for being is to improve public safety; to make sure offenders serve their sentences and reduce re-offending.
In this article we highlight just a few of the public safety measures we are taking in three of our main areas of work: prisons, Special Treatment Units and managing offenders in the community.
Prison Services run 20 prisons throughout the country, housing around 8,000 prisoners at any one time. Corrections officers work closely with prisoners, encouraging them to develop offence-free ways of behaving such as solving problems in non-violent ways.
Containment is one of the most important ways in which Prison Services keep the public safe. Escapes do occur, but these are relatively rare, and escape rates have fallen by 86 per cent over the last ten years. This is partly due to improved physical security, such as single points of entry and additional fencing, and partly due to the vigilance of our corrections officers and prison intelligence teams.
Our escape rates have remained fairly constant over the last five years and in the 2007/2008 financial year were around 0.3 per cent per 100 prisoners. This is quite low when compared with similar overseas countries such as England (around 1.0 escapes per 100 prisoners) and Scotland (around 0.7 escapes per 100 prisoners).
We are constantly developing new ways of preventing crimes from being carried out from behind bars. We are introducing cellphone blocking and jamming so that prisoners can not make unauthorised calls, and the recently passed Corrections Amendment Act (No 2) gives us the ability to read prisoners’ mail to ensure they are not planning crimes or sending threatening letters.
But modern prisons are not just about locking people up. Prison Services, working closely with Corrections Inmate Employment (CIE), offer prisoners education, training and work skills that will enable them to gain meaningful employment on release. We do this in the interests of public safety, since research shows that prisoners who find work when they’re released are less likely to re-offend. At June 2008 just over half of all prisoners had jobs or were participating in some form of employment-related activity such as training for a job.
As well as education opportunities and job training, Corrections makes special rehabilitation programmes available for certain groups of prisoners.
These programmes are designed to motivate prisoners and teach skills to change their thoughts, beliefs and actions so that they can live a crime-free life.
Internationally, rehabilitation programmes are considered successful if they lead to a reduction in crime of about ten per cent. The programmes we run at our special treatment units achieve comparable success rates, meaning that fewer people will be victims of the offenders who complete these programmes. Some of our units are significantly more successful. Research done in 2003 shows that only four per cent of child sex offenders who have been treated at Kia Marama Special Treatment Unit had re-offended sexually against children.
Corrections also develops new programmes for prisoners, with the goal of increased public safety always in mind. For example, following a successful pilot programme aimed at treating high-risk rape offenders in Auckland, we are now phasing the programme into the special treatment units around the country. The programme is underway at Karaka Special Treatment Unit at Waikeria Prison and is due to be run at the other units until we are treating 30 offenders a year.
As well as our special treatment units, we also have thirteen special focus units, providing therapeutic communities of different types:
Community Probation & Psychological Services (CPPS) manages offenders serving sentences and orders in the community. By ensuring offenders comply with their sentences and orders – and face the consequences if they do not – CPPS can reduce the risk of further offending and help offenders make a positive contribution to society.
Sentences and orders imposed by the Courts or Parole Board have particular aims such as reparation to the community, punishment by a restriction of liberty and rehabilitation.
CPPS provides information about offenders to the Courts before sentencing so that each offender receives the ‘right’ sentence for the offence they have committed. That is, a sentence that protects the public while also addressing the offending.
Some offenders require more intervention than others to address their offending. They may be required to complete specific rehabilitation programmes and meet more frequently with their probation officer than people convicted of less serious offending or who pose less risk.
As well as managing offenders who receive sentences to be served in the community, CPPS manages offenders who have been released from prison on conditions and on parole.
Release on parole is available to offenders sentenced to more than two years’ imprisonment to allow for release into the community under the supervision of a probation officer before their sentence ends. Release on parole is a privilege, not a right.
If the Parole Board believes the offender poses too great a risk to the public, it will decline parole.
Before a prisoner is released on parole, probation officers work closely with prison reintegration teams and other agencies, such as Work and Income, to ensure that the prisoner has a plan to help them adjust to life in the community and to manage their risk of re-offending.
While an offender is on parole they are required to report regularly to their probation officer, undergo home visits, and attend programmes as directed, which may include violence prevention or alcohol and other drug treatment programmes.
If the offender fails to comply with any of the imposed conditions, or re-offends, they may be recalled to prison to serve the remainder of their sentence.
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ISSN 1178-8453