Prisoner wins point over cell placement

An inmate classified as low-medium security but who was held in a high-medium facility has had a complaint to the Ombudsman upheld.

The Ombudsmen Quarterly Review said the Corrections Department's security system stated inmates must be classified at the lowest level at which they could be managed safely and securely.

Once classified, inmates should be placed in the least restrictive facility and regime which was consistent with their security classification, the review said.

The inmate who complained was held in a unit which catered primarily for high-medium and maximum security inmates for four months.

"Having reviewed inmate numbers and security classifications at the prison in question, the Ombudsman noted that a considerable number of high-medium security inmates appeared to be placed in a less restrictive division of the prison," the review said. "At the same time, low-medium inmates were also being held in a more secure or restrictive division than their security classification seemed to warrant."

The department told the Ombudsman that as a result of a shortage of segregated beds, it had not been possible to move the inmate to a less restrictive facility. Limited bed numbers also affected inmate placements.

"The Ombudsman accepted that, due to muster emergencies and one-off incidents, it might be necessary to place low-medium inmates in more restrictive regimes for a short period of time but believed that four months was excessive," the review said.

As the inmate had already been transferred to a lower-security facility, no recommendation was necessary, it said.

- NZPA