March 06, 2017
Prison inspections need Maori focus
Labour's Corrections spokesperson Kelvin Davis is welcoming a boost in prison inspectors, but says they also need a specific Maori focus.
Corrections Minister Louise Upston has has announced a new prison inspection team will work within but separately to the general Corrections Inspectorate.
It comes as the Ombudsman has released a devastating report on the treatment of mentally ill inmates, including one case where an inmate was strapped to a bed for 37 nights.
Mr Davis says the new team needs to be completely separate from Corrections, and it needs to be part of a wider rethink about the whole system.
"We need to be really smart on crime and not just tough on crime because what we are doing isn't working and Maori are bearing the brunt of the whole prison system. Not one prison is run on tikanga or kaupapa lines and that is probably part of the problem," he says.
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