Jails bulging at the seams

Tony Ryall

Bulging prison populations continue to put pressure on police and court cells as new jails are still being built.

And the impact of tougher laws, still to be felt, has prompted the Government to tell all Government departments they have to predict any impact on prison populations of policy changes.

Prison musters have soared since bail laws were changed in 2000.

The impact of new sentencing and parole laws is still flowing into the system, but the Ministry of Justice now estimates prison numbers will increase 15 per cent over the next five years and by 2009-2010 the daily population will be 7880.

New prisons are being built. The latest - Ngawha in Northland - is to house 350 inmates and is expected to be full by next month.

Other emergency measures taken to accommodate the extra inmates have been reintroduced such as double-bunking.

The crush has also led to industrial disputes over safety, including at police and court cells which may not have specialist prison officers guarding remand or sentenced prisoners.

A shortage of prison officers has seen recruiting overseas, particularly in the Pacific.

The latest prison forecasts estimate jumps not only in the numbers of people sentenced for crimes, but significant rises in those remanded in custody while waiting for trials or to be sentenced.

National's law and order spokesman Tony Ryall says his party's plans to abolish parole for repeat and violent offenders is still affordable.

He said National will accommodate the surge in prison numbers through expansion of existing and planned prisons, and by moving back to contracted private prisons.

The party has said that will in a third year cost $300 million.

Mr Ryall said the projected increase in prisoner numbers would not be permanent, with the deterrent effect of longer sentences expected to kick in over time.

Justice Minister Phil Goff said yesterday that National had not properly costed its prisons policies to take into account operating costs and needed capital investment. But Mr Ryall said the fact that the prisons could not cope with inmate numbers now was a planning problem the Government was responsible for.

Although the major parties are grappling with tough lines on crime, minor parties such as the Greens and Progressive have focused on early intervention and restorative justice policies. But a Ministry of Justice evaluation of restorative justice programmes shows mixed success with pilot projects.

Sentencing and parole changes

Before

Almost all prisoners were automatically released after serving two-thirds of their sentence.
They could apply for parole after serving half a jail sentence.
Murder carried a mandatory life sentence, with a non-parole period of 10 years.
Preventive detention applied to fewer crimes, but had a 10-year non-parole period.

After

A new minimum 17-year, non-parole period for the worst murders.
Prisoners jailed for two years or more can seek parole after serving one-third of the sentence. In some cases, they can be held for the full jail term.
Those jailed for less than two years are automatically released after one year.
The non-parole period for preventive detention dropped to five years.