Parole system putting public at risk, says Power

Simon Power

The National Party continued to pile on the pressure on the Department of Corrections today, claiming new figures released by the department exposed the parole system as "seriously flawed".

National's Law and Order spokesman Simon Power said the latest figures, covering the three years to October last year, showed that in many hundreds of instances members of the public were put at serious risk by people walking the streets when they should not have been.

"They also show that too many parolees do not stick to the conditions of their parole and that too often Corrections do not know where the thousands of parolees are," Mr Power said.
The figures show:

* 636 parolees were recalled to prison for posing an 'undue risk to the safety of the community', for breaching parole conditions, or committing an offence punishable by imprisonment;

* 4148 parolees failed to report to the authorities when required;

* There were 969 breaches of parole -- including failure to attend rehabilitation programmes, failing to follow a direction from a Probation Officer, or changing address without permission.

The figures come on the same day as it was revealed 21 prison officers have lost their jobs over the past two years for misconduct, including criminal activity.

Mr Power has called for a parliamentary inquiry into the Corrections department following the disclosure of budget blow-outs for two new prisons.

Corrections Minister Damien O'Connor revealed last week two new prisons were $140 million over estimate.

Springhill Prison in North Waikato cost $380.3 million, which was $97.7 million over estimate, and Otago's new prison being built at Milton costing $217.9 million, $43.1 million more than the department's forecast.

Mr O'Connor has called in the Treasury and the State Services Commission to carry out an independent review which he expects will be completed in about four months.

Mr Power called the parole system a failed experiment for serious offenders.

The figures did not show what type of offences people were committing to land themselves behind bars in the first place and what offences they were committing for them to be locked up again, he said.

"We do know that many serious crimes are committed by prisoners on parole and that they could be avoided if the Government was determined to get tough on serious criminals," Mr Power said.

Mr O'Connor was not available for comment.

- NZPA