A Prison Officer’s Thoughts
Continuing in our series of Migrants’ Tales – first hand accounts of the migrant experience in New Zealand, taken from locations around the net.
Today’s tale was sent in by a former NZ corrections officer, it was left in a comment on our blog “The Death of Jason Palmer – Another Prison Officer’s Thoughts“. In it the ex-officer tells of his frustrations with the bureaucracy and manifest shortcomings of the NZ penal system:
I use to work for NZ Corrections and I left after one years service.
My former occupation was a prison officer in another country.I was always at loggerheads with the bureaucracy and the over abundance of middle management.
No “hierarchy of force” in place for staff. All NZ has is grappling techniques and a script. No word of a lie.The last time I looked I was not a thespian.
What do you do when prisoners smear themselves in shit? They do not mention these types of scenario’s or prisoners with serious mental issues do they?In NZ a strip search is a joke.The prisoner takes his upper torso(clothing) off first and puts it back on, followed by the bottom half.
This defeats the whole purpose of a strip search.Take all of your clothes off.
nice and simple.No quoting acts and regulations.
The prisoner is on remand or sentenced.They automatically fall under the state.You see where I am going with this? Everything is complicated and not simplified.
They have paperwork for everything. The same information recorded on three to four forms and journals.How about one journal?As long as you put your name onto something the department will always have a scapegoat.
I do not know if a prisoner is going to commit suicide or murder someone?
Each incident and situation is unique so it creates a lot of variables.CANZ is a joke.All they do is whinge about private prisons but yet cannot remedy poor remuneration and the crapfest rosters that they implement.
The prison that I was trained in was of a para-military system whereas NZ is run by a civilian system.
Officers and prisoners talk on a first name basis.Officers track prisoners down on a name to face muster.
Para-military styled prisons order(not ask) prisoners to form up rank and file during musters.
They should come to me, not the other way around.If you are in NZ Corrections you know what I am talking about.
I could go on forever.Good luck for all officers that have to endure all the bullshit.If you are a new officer you will not know any different because New Zealand train you to be in the dark.
Cheers
Unfortunately this is now the current state of UK prisons also! Strip searches are conducted in the same manner here, top half first, bottom half second ( although as a female officer I am not subjected to this working in a adult male prison)
Management are far more concerned as to whether you have documented the same information of the same incident on several different forms rather than if you have the equipment and resources to perform your job in the first place. For example, I had a senior officer ask me (in a panic over someone higher in rank visiting the wing) to go through the diary of the food we serve and fill in the gaps where the number of meals had not been recorded!!! It was deemed irrelevant that i was not present on these days. However when we received an email stating we “MUST” use the metal detector when searching all prisoners leaving a wing and i asked them to provide said metal detector it suddenly wasn’t a problem anymore and was no longer a requirement!!
It looks like emigrating would be a smooth transition!!
It seems as if angry 1st World citizens aren’t solving their problems by moving to some remote place with palm trees. It is not the Garden of Eden down there? They are just adding remoteness and all the problems that go along with that (high prices, far from family, insular clan mentality) to the more familiar problems that the UK, US and Canada have.
We almost moved to New Zealand after a couple visits led us to fall in love with the natural beauty. Based on the discreet opinions of ones we knew who had lived there for awhile, and the numbers of hopefuls who arrive and then leave again, however, our thought on it ultimately was that it would not be a good idea.
A good place to visit, not a good place to live.
“All NZ has is grappling techniques and a script. No word of a lie.The last time I looked I was not a thespian.”
Sounds like their courts, too.
as an ex corrections officer that lost his wife also a corrections officer to the system i have to agree with the lead statment, also having worked in a prison system in another country i find our system a complete joke. The prisoners at my facility refered to it as a holiday camp, yes i am a bit bitter an twisted as i lost my wife to one of the pieces of gutter scum in there she was a good women and they managed to brain wash her now she is a patched member of one of new zealands most notorious gangs , a beautiful mother and wife gone.