Lock-in regime fingered for riot
Locking prisoners up for 26 hours at a stretch potentially fuelled one of the country’s worst prison riots.
The riot that occurred at Spring Hill Corrections Facility on June 1, 2013, was the largest and most destructive incident experienced in New Zealand prisons in almost 15 years.
Inmates in Unit 16B were drunk on home brew as they caused $10 million worth of damage.
Staff were assaulted before being forced to evacuate when the prisoner attack got out of hand, damaging and burning property from their cells and whatever else they could find in storerooms and the staff base.
A team led by the Department of Corrections’ chief custodial officer carried out an inquiry into the reasons and causes of the riot.
The report reveals that while the immediate cause of the riot was a result of the actions of certain inmates, locking prisoners up for 26 hours potentially fuelled prisoner discontent.
Labour Party Corrections spokesman Kelvin Davis dismissed the term ‘‘potentially’’ and said the lock-in regime ‘‘absolutely’’ fuelled prisoner discontent.
‘‘It’s easy to blame the prisoners but I honestly think the management was shocking. The 26-hour lock-in was just stupid.’’
After a previous incident involving home brew in January 2013, a restrictive regime was implemented in the unit.
While some prisoners were unlocked each day, on alternate days other prisoners were locked up for 26 hours consecutively.
According to the report, this response would not only have failed to address the risks it was put in place to manage, but may also have exacerbated prisoner discontent.
‘‘If you are going to lock people up like animals, they are going to act like animals,’’ Davis said.
‘‘Necessity is the mother of invention ... they used hand sanitiser and fruit to make alcohol to entertain themselves.
‘‘Sure, you can say the prisoners played up but the way they were treated is as much to blame.’’
The report found the unit in which the riot occurred was a high security unit which held unmotivated, difficult and disruptive prisoners who were predominantly gang affiliated.
These prisoners were unmotivated because they have nothing to motivate themselves with, Davis said. ‘‘Idle hands make devil’s mischief.
‘‘Instead of being locked up for 26 hours, they could be learning or training or doing a job of sorts where, for eight hours a day, they can be occupied.
‘‘The fundamental thing Corrections is not addressing is the rehabilitation side of things – it’s not meaningful. If the prisoners were meaningfully occupied, it wouldn’t eliminate the chance of a riot, but it would make it a lot less likely.’’