Inadequacies highlighted include staff who knew an inmate had a razor, but they failed to confiscate it, and failing to deal properly with prisoners who openly smoked cannabis and calling media on cellphones before the riot.
The report has also criticised the department’s placement of several Mongols MC gang members together in one unit.
The Office of the Inspectorate released its report for the independent inquiry into the December 2020 riot today, highlighting how the prisoners involved were violent and destructive.
However, the report found fault in the prison’s preparation for – and response to – the inmates’ actions.
“Prior to the riot, prison conditions and prisoner behaviour combined to create a risk of disorder, which was not appropriately managed,” the report said.
An independent report says several opportunities were missed to prevent escalating tension that preceded the Waikeria Prison riot. Photo / Michael Craig
“Several opportunities were missed to prevent the situation from escalating to the extent that it did.”
Prison guards lacked appropriate training, they had inadequate responses to relatively smaller issues which ultimately escalated into the riot, and the building had not been maintained and kept secure.
Then, guards lacked “clear direction on how to respond to the evolving situation. The initial response was marked by a continued lack of command and control”.
These issues have been identified as “missed opportunities to contain the riot”.
Rioting prisoners took full control
On December 29, 2020, inmates at Waikeria Prison’s Top Jail in rural Waikato started fires in the exercise yard and then escaped onto the roof and set fire to mattresses.
Compliant prisoners were evacuated while the rioters threw projectiles at prison guards below.
By the riot’s second day, the fire had damaged swathes of the prison and destroyed a third of the jail’s prisoner capacity. Those responsible said they were protesting against prison conditions.
The 16 men behind the riot surrendered five days after it began following an intervention from Māori Party leader Rawiri Waititi.
They were given food, water, access to medical staff, and the ability to speak with kaumātua (elders) and were taken to other prisons.
The Office of the Inspectorate’s report said the riot was “violent, destructive, and presented a real risk to life. The magnitude was unprecedented in New Zealand correctional history. It was not a peaceful protest, nor was it a proportionate response to prisoner’s dissatisfaction with prison conditions”.
The aftermath of the damage to Waikeria Prison, after the six-day riot and standoff at the prison in December 2020 and January 2021. Photo / Brett Phibbs
The report said the disorder in the Top Jail’s exercise yard began when a guard saw a prisoner giving another a haircut with a disposable razor. The guard asked the prisoner to hand it over, but he refused and began yelling.
Some guards knew the prisoner had the razor days beforehand.
“They did not take any other action to mitigate the risk of the razor, including preventing the prisoners from going into the yard, entering offender notes or incident reports, or informing senior officers.”
Twenty minutes later, guards told the prisoners in the yard to leave one by one, but some refused. Guards then saw the remaining inmates smoking cannabis in the yard, while other prisoners phoned the press to say they were planning to riot.
“In this situation, the actions of some staff at the early stage were ineffective and unnecessarily confrontational,” the report said.
A fire lit during the Waikeria prison riot sent smoke billowing into the Waikato sky.
The prisoners in the yard then covered up security cameras, and lit fires.
The Office of the Inspectorate said: “Underlying tensions at the Top Jail escalated into a series of breaches ... that were not properly contained and ultimately led to the riot.
“These underlying tensions were in part a result of systemic failures within the Top Jail prior to the riot. Some of the men felt mistreated by staff and were dissatisfied with the physical conditions and the way they were managed.
“The environment at the Top Jail had previously been found ... as being not conducive to the humane treatment of prisoners.
“The dissatisfaction of the prisoners in the Top Jail was exacerbated by a concerning and disrespectful staff culture. Disappointingly, we observed instances where staff spoke to prisoners in an inappropriate, disrespectful and unacceptable way on December 29, prior to the riot.”
Security outside the Waikeria Prison, near Te Awamutu, after the riot broke out.
Photo / Michael Craig
Imprisoning gang members in the Top Jail was also identified as a concern.
“All of the Mongols MC members had been placed in a single unit. As the riot progressed, they became the largest and most influential group.”
The fact prisoners got hold of contraband – cannabis, razors, and an ignition source – was another factor contributing to the riot, the report said.
“The combination of these and other factors led to an unhealthy level of tension.”
