Prisoners In Police Cells At $17,000 A Night

act-new-zealand

Wed Jul 11 2007 12:00:00 GMT+1200 (New Zealand Standard Time)

Prisoners In Police Cells At $17,000 A Night

Wednesday, 11 July 2007, 12:06 am
Press Release: ACT New Zealand

Hard-working New Zealand taxpayers are being made to fork out almost $17,300 every night to house criminals in Police cells when they should be in prison, ACT New Zealand National Security Spokesman Heather Roy said today.

"According to answers to my written Parliamentary Questions, Corrections spent $1.593 million to keep inmates in Police cells between March 1 2007 and May 31 2007, because there was not enough room in the nation's prisons," Mrs Roy said.

"Corrections pays Police $190 per night to house a prisoner in Police cells. For this three-month period there were, on average, 91 criminals - who should have been in prison - in Police cells on any given night.

"Over three months that's 8,421 offenders, the equivalent of the country's entire prison muster - the total number of inmates in New Zealand prisons at any given time - who were kept in Police cells when they should have been be in prison.

"These figures are particularly alarming in light of the fact that a total of 971 new prison beds have become available since March 2005 - Northland Region Corrections Facility opened in March 2005 (350 beds), Auckland Region Women's Correction Facility opened in June 2006 (286 beds) and Otago Region Corrections Facility opened in May 2007 (335 beds) - yet this has not alleviated the now long-standing problem of prisoners being held in Police cells.

"This is totally unacceptable. Inmates are supposed to be in prison, not in Police cells because there isn't enough room.

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"Taxpayers shouldn't have to pay exorbitant amounts to house the nation's entire prison muster in Police cells. Clearly Corrections is a department in crisis and is not managing our prisons effectively.

"New Zealand had a well-functioning and respected private prison until Labour changed the law and handed it back to the State sector. The Government should be looking again at independent private prisons. Then, with the introduction of competition, we might see prisons run efficiently and effectively - and prisoners kept where they belong," Mrs Roy said.

ENDS

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