KEY POINTS:
The high level of violence at Rimutaka Prison may be due to the needless use of force by prison officers on inmates, the Department of Corrections says.
It is defending management instructions to staff at the Upper Hutt jail, where violence is at unacceptably high levels, to refrain from using force unless absolutely necessary.
A management email last July said the number of violent incidents at the prison was a serious problem.
"Rimutaka Prison has more than double the number of incidents than any other site. It also accounts for seven of the 11 control-and-restraint incidents for the country and about eight of 20 of the assault incidents.
"This is unacceptably high irrespective of any difference that may exist in reporting practices ... The number and type of incidents suggest some serious problems at Rimutaka that need to be sorted as a matter of urgency."
Corrections operations assistant general manager Bryan McMurray said there was no evidence to suggest force had been used illegally.
"[But] they might be using it more frequently than we would like [and] it may not have been necessary.
"Negotiation to make prisoners do as they're told were becoming less frequent, and staff were moving to control and restraint or using force more quickly than in other regions."
Corrections Association president Beven Hanlon has said the instruction was to protect the prison's image at the expense of letting staff do their jobs.
But Mr McMurray said staff were free to use force whenever necessary.
There would always be corrupt staff in an organisation as large as Corrections, but he believed "99 per cent" of the department was honest.
Also yesterday, the department said a Corrections officer had been dismissed from Christchurch Men's Prison for taking contraband to a prisoner.
And it confirmed that one of two officers suspended for alleged corruption was fired this week, effective immediately. It said a decision on the future of the second officer was expected shortly.
