$6.3m to watch offenders

Number of high-risk released prisoners under supervision rockets in past 13 years

Nearly five times as many high-risk offenders are on extended supervision orders now than there were 13 years ago, costing the taxpayer more than $6.3 million last year.

An extended supervision order (ESO) is used to monitor and manage long-term risk when a high risk sex offender or a very high risk violent offender is released back into the community.

High profile killer Tony Robertson raped and murdered North Shore woman Blessie Gotingco after breaching the conditions of his ESO three months after it was successfully sought by Corrections in February 2014.

Robertson was released from prison in December 2013 after serving a sentence for abducting and indecently assaulting a 5-year-old child. Sex offenders are believed to be most likely to reoffend in the period immediately after they are released from prison.

After ESOs were introduced in 2004, there was an average of 38 high risk offenders on the orders during the 2005 financial year, data released to NZME under the Official Information Act showed.

The average figures, which take into account fluctuations in the offender population over time, increased steadily year on year, reaching 215 in the last financial year.

National Commissioner of Corrections Rachel Leota defended those numbers, telling NewstalkZB the increase was the result of a 2015 law change “which increased the range of offences that can be monitored by an ESO”.

Originally just for child sex offenders, the orders can now apply to now adult sex offenders and other violent offenders at high risk of serious reoffending.

The average daily cost for managing prisoners on ESOs was $80.90 for the financial year ending June 2016, meaning each offender cost nearly $30,000 to manage per year.

Corrections spent $6,348,426 monitoring those on ESOs in the 2015/16 financial year.

The department said it took its financial responsibility to the public seriously and carefully balanced any expenses against its obligation to manage offenders safely.

Leota argued the cost was justified because the resources used by Corrections were working.

“We have had a range of additional tools which better support the range of management options we have, including things like electronic monitoring,” she said.

Electronic monitoring became available to Corrections around 2011.

“We do want to use those tools which are very useful to us to better manage the person, so obviously that’s an additional cost.” Rehabilitation programmes made available to offenders also made up the cost.

The cost reflected that more resources were now available to track offenders on ESOs, as well as more programmes to reduce risk and help with rehabilitation, Leota said.

Standard conditions of an ESO included reporting regularly to a probation officer, participating in rehabilitative and reintegrative needs assessment when directed and obtaining written consent before moving house or changing jobs.

The extensive contact offenders had with probation officers and other support staff helped reduce the risk of reoffending, Leota said.

Corrections fronts up to Mike Hosking on Newstalk ZB after 7 this morning