Justice
Calls are mounting for Corrections to take charge of police units, but it’s not on the government’s work radar and a justice advocacy group has described the prospect as inappropriate
The Police Association and the Corrections Association renewed the idea that detainees could be better cared for in a changed framework.
Detention remains a pressing issue for the police, with many units across the country unfit for purpose, leading to risks for both those held in them and the personnel themselves.
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The police now have a permanent full-time task force dedicated to improving the prison system.
This has been guided by Independent Police Conduct Authority (IPCA) recommendations, coroner findings and a 2019 internal police investigation.
Changes to date include updated mandatory training, the use of technology for better risk assessment, infrastructure remediation, and the removal of ligature points at all 15 sites.
“The general day-to-day management of people in custody is probably better suited to correctional officers … because dealing with inmates is something we do all the time.”
– Alan Whitley, Corrections Association
But, said police association president Chris Cahill, as police made positive changes to improve what they could, the problem remained that some custody units simply shouldn’t be operational.
“Far too many of the holding units shouldn’t be working in any way. I can rattle them off… Whakatane, Hastings, Blenheim, Nelson, Gore, they’re all over the show.
“They are really not fit for purpose. It’s not a good environment to lock people up in but it’s also not a safe environment to work in and the police have looked at that and tried to do something about it but it’s a multimillion dollar project that the government needs to invest in that .”
He said it was also worth exploring whether the police should be involved in the detention system at all.
“This is a problem that needs to be solved by the police, Corrections and Justice. It’s not just a police problem. I think corrections should be more present.
“For example, when I look at Napier and Hastings, Napier no longer has custody units, the custody unit in Hastings was the old police station that was demolished, but they haven’t built a new custody unit, so it’s still the old custody unit.” unit in the back.
“But you have Mangaroa Prison down the street. That to me is where the custody unit should be and to be fair, managed by Corrections who are the experts.
“That’s the first place I’d try.”
In 2017, people arrested in Auckland were transferred to the relatively new Custody Unit at Mt Eden Correctional Facility. While the police managed those in the unit, Corrections next door was managing the larger facility.
Cahill said facilities like Auckland’s would be perfect for Corrections staff to take over.
That idea is something that former Corrections Association president Alan Whitley said had been discussed in the past but never caught on.
“It goes back to when Greg O’Connor was president of the Police Association and we had some discussions about the general day-to-day management of people in custody probably being better suited to prison officers…with prisoners is something we do all the time.
“The other thing we talked about at the time was that if Correction Officers were able to take care of these people in custody, it would free up the front line police to go back out and do front line police duties and help create a safer community. to create. .
He said these were just discussions between the two associations and was unaware that anything formal ever went higher.
He also said that while the idea was good in theory, it wouldn’t be feasible to move anything forward until current staffing challenges are addressed with corrections.
“If we have corrections within the realm of police custody units, there is a chance that the lines will blur and upstream problems will arise.” – Aphiphany Forward-Taua, just speak.
The experience of people in detention units, as well as the police working in the units, is something that the IPCA is watching closely.
More comprehensive reports were completed in 2012 and 2015, but in a briefing to new minister Kiri Allan in June this year, the IPCA said it intended to expand its work programme.
“So that we can inspect and audit detention facilities with the frequency necessary to meet international standards, we will devote part of the additional funding received in the 2022 budget to strengthening this part of our work.”
The IPCA hopes to have this comprehensive program in place next year and is also considering publishing its inspection and audit reports, which is currently not happening.
Just Speak Executive Director Aphiphany Forward-Taua said the idea of corrections officers within police custody units was fundamentally wrong.
“The police have the discretion and responsibility to charge people with a crime, and this discretion must be overseen by a police supervisor by law. So, of course, if we have corrections within the domain of the police units, there is the possibility that the lines will become blurred and problems will arise upstream.
“We could see the influence of Corrections Officers on police officers and their responsibility as officers of the court and also of the law to make those decisions and we just think it’s fundamentally wrong for those powers to fade.”
She said it also sent the wrong signal to people being detained.
“That when you get caught by the police you end up in jail. It kind of has a presumptive connotation, whether it’s meant to be or not, that’s something that can happen.”
Whitley added that consideration needs to be given to how to deal with those who are simply apprehended by police, rather than those held for extended periods.
“You have to look at the legality of – can you combine an inmate with a remand prisoner? You would have to look at what the facilities are like, and what would be the number of people that would be housed in those facilities, as opposed to the number of beds currently available on the system.
‘Rotorua, for example, has a nice reception center there and that is appropriate. Some of the other places I’ve seen around the country… weren’t really up to speed.”
He said he wouldn’t want Corrections officers working in police stations, but the idea of Corrections operating within the custody units was a credit.
“This is not something that has come up in any of my appointments with Corrections.” — Kelvin Davis, Secretary of Corrections.
“There should be some demarcation about who would look after a detainee as opposed to a person placed on remand. Once someone is taken into custody, we can take care of them. At the moment, we cannot take care of a detainee who has been held by the police for several days, but has not yet been placed in pre-trial detention.
“So obviously there are some legal issues that both departments need to look at if they want to pursue this.”
Cahill said the police’s increasing use of authorized officers – those specially trained in custody – was a step in the right direction, but many prison units were still run by people who were not adequately trained or did not want to be there .
“So you still have people in custody who have limited ability, and it normally means taking someone off the street because they’re looking after a prisoner in custody, which isn’t ideal.”
He said another major problem for police custody was transporting people.
“Suppose you arrest someone in the far north, you have nowhere to keep him in custody, so you have to take him to Whangarei and it takes two people to transport the prisoner. So you don’t have anyone to watch Kaikohe for the rest of the night, that sort of thing.
“Nelson is particularly difficult because they don’t have a prison. So the closest prison to Nelson is Christchurch. So you have the entire west coast and Nelson, who have to care for prisoners in unsuitable cells for extended periods of time.”
“I think if the police could escape transporting prisoners, that would be a valuable resource to release.”
Corrections Secretary Kelvin Davis said no work was or was underway to see if Corrections should take over the leadership of police units.
“This is not something that has come up in any of my appointments with Corrections.”
Meanwhile, Police Minister Chris Hipkins said the government remains committed to providing safe and appropriate detention services.
“Improving the safety and effectiveness of police forces began during our first term, in 2019. That work has continued in 2020 and 2021 and will continue under the National Custody Team.
“Making sure repositories are consistent and well maintained is absolutely essential. I would expect the police to prioritize recovery work to ensure safety and a suitable environment for anyone in custody.”