Cell life emerges from dark ages
Unit will make it much easier to move detainees
People arrested in Auckland city will no longer be held in the central police station’s gloomy underground cells. Instead, they will be shipped straight off to Mt Eden Prison.
The Herald can reveal that starting this week anyone arrested in the city area will be driven directly to a new purpose-built Auckland Custody Unit at Mt Eden Correctional Facility.
The new unit, which sits next to the remand prison that opened in 2011, will be fully functional by next Monday.
The ACU, which cost police just over $13 million to construct, will replace the district custody unit at Auckland Central station, which was built in 1968.
The Auckland City District spans from Herne Bay across to St Heliers, Onehunga and Avondale, and includes Waiheke and Great Barrier Islands. So while its main police station is central to the city, it’s not as handy for staff who work past the CBD fringe.
The new location will be easier for officers transporting detainees to access. It is closer to motorway entrances and exits and will mean less time sitting at lights in the CBD.
Auckland City District Commander Superintendent Karyn Malthus told the Herald the unit would allow a smoother process for managing detainees. It also enabled a “simpler transition” to the remand prison for those remanded in custody.
“This project . . . involved extensive collaboration between police, Justice and Corrections,” Malthus said.
“The enhanced facility will provide a better working environment for our staff and to those who are held in our custody as it is significantly modernised from the current unit.”
Senior Sergeant Matthew Knowsley took the Herald for a tour. He said: “For lack of a better word, the old building is not fit for purpose.”
The new unit had greater technology, including smart glass which allowed officers to change door windows from clear to frosted with the push of a button.
It also had more modern and much lighter cells — some with natural light. Music could also be “piped in”, to help calm some detainees.
A padded cell meant problematic detainees would be restrained or handcuffed.
While on a Corrections site, it is entirely managed and operated by police.
A woman who spent time in the police cells said they were “cold, dark and impossible to know day from night”.