Pepper spray used once in year-long prison trial

A national trial testing the use of pepper spray in prisons has finished, with the substance used just once last year, at the Otago Corrections Facility at Milburn.

Prison manager Reti Pearse said the pepper spray was used on August 22 to calm a prisoner.

"It's a last resort as always. The prisoner was vandalising [his cell] and threatening to harm himself. The spray was used to calm and neutralise him. It was very effective. It was the one time it was used, and it did the job.''

The spray was deployed under the door and the prisoner was taken to a "designated decontamination area'' where he was monitored by health staff after he was subdued by the spray.

Mr Pearse said he believed the trial would confirm the spray was a last resort, and that it would become part of custodial staff's equipment.

In August 2008, the Corrections Department began a staff safety project to determine whether additional training or personal protective equipment would improve the safety of custodial staff.

Acting prison services general manager Eric Fairbairn said all uniformed staff and prison management were provided with extra training in advanced tactical communication and de-escalation.

Staff in certain high-risk situations were equipped with protective equipment, including batons, spit hoods, stab resistant body armour, and pepper spray which was subject to trial and evaluation.

The year-long trial, which began on November 18, 2010, looked at whether access to pepper spray reduced the need for physical force when managing non-compliant prisoners.

Mr Fairbairn said the spray was used once during the trial, to "effectively subdue a prisoner who was acting violently and presenting a danger to himself and staff''.

A department spokeswoman said she could not confirm which products were available in the trial, but said one spray available used the same formula as that used by the police, and the other spray was stronger. She would not say just how much stronger it was.

The two sprays were used in different ways, one was sprayed under the door, through windows or vents, deploying as a fog, while the other could be sprayed directly into the face.

Mr Fairbairn said the department took staff safety seriously.

"We must ensure that we provide staff with the necessary skills and tools to be able to manage prisoners safely, to minimise the need for physical force and opportunities for harm.''

The ten prisons which took part in the trial would continue having pepper spray available while the results from the trial were analysed. As well as analysing the one deployment, the department would look at incidents where pepper spray could have potentially been deployed but was not.

A decision about the future of pepper spray in prisons is due to be made this April.

Pepper spray is used by response teams in South Australia Corrective Service, Northern Ireland Corrective Service, Scotland Prison Service and NZ Police officers.