KEY POINTS:
Management policies to improve the image of Rimutaka Prison are preventing prison staff from doing their jobs and have led to an increase in prison violence, the corrections officers' union says.
Corrections Association president Beven Hanlon said yesterday the prison management was wary of Rimutaka's unhealthy image and had asked staff to limit their use of force to curb the high number of violent incidents.
Last month, prison management issued a directive that criticised staff for unlocking cells and using force on disruptive inmates.
It said prisoners should remain locked up unless they were a risk to themselves or their cellmates.
Mr Hanlon said management was turning a blind eye to specific circumstances that allowed officers to use force, such as preventing a prisoner from damaging property or escaping.
Incidents of staff using force against prisoners had since dropped but this had allowed violence between prisoners to flourish without staff intervention.
"When a prisoner confronts [staff], they just walk away and that obviously leads to issues of who runs the prisons," he said.
"Every corrections officer knows how to do their jobs. We're trained to do it, just let us do it, and that includes the use of force when it needs to happen."
Last week, prison guards were told to stand down while a brawl broke out between eight youths in the Rimutaka Youth Unit. The fracas lasted up to 15 minutes and caused substantial property damage.
Mr Hanlon said corrections staff were hamstrung by management orders not to intervene but the department said the incident was well-handled because the safety of prison staff was not compromised.
The acting regional manager of Wellington Prisons, Leanne Field, said staff might have had a feeling "that they would have liked to go in and use force but, at the end of the day, that wasn't necessary".
"I believe the situation in the youth unit was managed well. I would rather see property damaged than staff damaged."
The unhealthy image and high number of violent incidents at Rimutaka was a concern, and prison staff had been asked to use force only when necessary," Mrs Field said.
"There's definitely a concerted effort to try to challenge staff to think of other ways of dealing with prisoners rather than using force.
"One of the measurements of the health of a facility is the amount of force used when dealing with prisoners, and Rimutaka wasn't faring particularly well in that until recent times."
Mrs Field denied the directive was keeping staff from doing their jobs or that it was a change in policy. "The use of force is always a last resort."
She has stepped into the job while Dave East remains suspended after claims of mismanagement at Rimutaka Prison.
Eleven other prison officers at Rimutaka have been suspended and an ongoing inquiry is likely to see more suspensions.
