Source: Radio New Zealand
Rising prison numbers put pressure on remand prisons like Mount Eden. RNZ/Calvin Samuel
With prison numbers at their highest ever and still rising, one former prisoner and critic of this government’s tough-on-crime policies has put his hope in a controversial programme.
As the prison population ticked over to a new record above 11,000 this month, one expert says controversial military-style academies are one of the best ways to keep troubled young men and women out of jail.
“I have never come away from anything to do with the justice system with more hope in my heart than I have when I visited the military-style academy,” says Paul Wood, a former prisoner who promotes rehabilitation programmes for men and women.
Wood is a critic of the current government’s prison policies and admits his stance on the academies, also known as boot camps, would surprise many people.
During the 12-month pilot academy, which ended last August, participants ran away, one was booted off the programme and another was killed in a car crash. Most of the 10 young men involved re-offended.
An ndependent report out late last year said the pilot contributed to “meaningful and positive change” but also said the cohort was too small to draw firm conclusions.
Wood, a convicted murderer who now has a PhD after starting his tertiary studies in prison, was on the advisory committee for the pilot programme. He is also an ambassador for other rehabilitation programmes.
“We have to be doing early intervention, we have to be identifying and supporting kids who are at risk of ending up exposed to the justice system once they’re teenagers. By the time people are in prison, by the time people are caught we have already missed the best, most useful opportunity to turn people around,” he says.
But his support of the academies comes with a big ‘but’.
The programme must be well-resourced, and right now the justice system and rehabilitation schemes are poorly funded, he says.
“When you use the term ‘boot camp’ that means a variety of different things but what we know is that the so-called boot camps that have a therapeutic focus as well as the discipline, those are actually really effective,” Wood says.
A system under pressure
The Detail looks at why the number of people in prison is now over 11,000 when earlier projections said that figure would not be reached until 2030.
Latest figures show there are 199 per 100,000 people in prison in Aotearoa, more than double Canada’s number and 29 more per 100,000 than Australia.
The coalition government’s tough-on-crime policies, including the reinstatement of three strikes legislation and sentencing changes, are factors in the sharp rise, says Wood.
“Can I just say this government is tough on crime, and unfortunately rehabilitation and reintegration.
“I do believe that they’re succeeding in terms of punishing people, that piece of the imprisonment experience, which is a legitimate part of what imprisonment is about, to punish you for misdeeds.
“But I think unfortunately they’re doing so at the expense of the capacity to rehabilitate and reintegrate people back into society.”
Criminal barrister Emma Priest says the record numbers affect the whole justice system.
Priest is also the convenor of the Law Association’s parole and prisoner rights committee and says it means prisoners on remand are being moved all the time to make way for more remand prisoners.
“We are really feeling it on the ground,” she says.
“They are literally playing Tetris trying to fit prisoners in beds.”
One of her clients is a teenager facing a serious criminal charge in Wairarapa, whose family lives further north and cannot afford to visit him in the youth facility. His trial date is set for mid-2028.
“That’s one very difficult and poignant example of how difficult it is for him.”
The teen is cut off from his family and Priest limits her visits to him to less frequent but extended meetings because of the cost to the taxpayer through legal aid.
“But his family are limited to phone calls,” she says.
“We’ve got these increased prison numbers but we also have real deficits in resource around the courts.”
Regions are worse off with court delays than the main cities which have high courts.
“There’s just a lot of flow on. So more prisoners mean you need more judges, you need more court rooms, you need more lawyers.”
Increased prisoners also puts pressure on programmes.
“People are just waiting for longer before they can start their substantive rehabilitation. And to be direct, until they’ve done their rehabilitation, they’re not going to get released on parole.
“They really need to do that criminogenic, substantive rehabilitation which allows them to come up with a safety and release plan, which allows the parole board to be satisfied that they don’t present an undue risk to the community and that allows them to be released safely.”
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
