KEY POINTS:
The number of serious assaults on prison staff has declined dramatically during the past decade, according to figures released by the Corrections Department.
But, during the same time, the number of non-serious assaults has varied dramatically.
In 1998/99, there were 44 serious assaults recorded, with 32 the following year. But since then the numbers dropped down to single figures, with six each recorded in 2006/07 and 2007/08.
A Corrections spokesman said the department worked closely with prisoners to minimise and resolve any conflict to help avoid prisoners resorting to violence in the first instance.
In the 1998/99 year, there were 55 assaults deemed non-serious, though there were only 15 the following year.
Since then the number has fluctuated in double figures, from 25 in 2004/05, 43 the following year, 25 the year after and 61 in 2007/08.
The Corrections Department defines a non-serious assault as an act of physical violence that results in bodily harm requiring medical intervention, but not overnight hospitalisation.
The department spokesman said staff had been encouraged to seek medical treatment for injuries that, in the past, might have been considered too minor for medical intervention.
It said the figures did not necessarily relate to the number of incidents, but rather the number of staff being treated for injuries.
There had been a number of instances over the past 12 months where one incident led to a number of staff being injured.
However, the president of a union representing many prison officers told Radio New Zealand the department was in denial over the level of violence experienced by prison staff.
Corrections Association president Beven Hanlon said the figures showed assaults on prison staff were growing at a dramatic rate, but he questioned the way the department recorded such incidents.
Mr Hanlon said a woman officer at Otago Prison was punched repeatedly in the face by a prisoner last Sunday, and that would be classified as a non-serious assault. He would consider it a serious assault.
- NZPA
