NCJ Number
121764
Date Published
1989
Length
3 pages
Annotation
Reform priorities for New Zealand prisons focus on public education, overcrowding, staffing, inmate treatment, prison management, and habilitation.
Abstract
One of the most important goals of prison reform involves changing the public perception of prisons as being the key criminal justice system component. An Overcrowding Emergency Powers Act is recommended to facilitate changes in eligibility for the release of inmates serving life imprisonment, bail reform, and consideration of home detention and electronic surveillance as alternatives to remand in custody. Prison staffing procedures should be revised to include equal opportunity, recruitment and staff training, performance appraisal and promotion, career development, salary reappraisal, and staff welfare. The local prison management structure should be changed by introducing new inmate management systems that coordinate inmate activities inside the prison. Habilitation centers should be established to house inmates who would otherwise be in prison. Finally, future prison construction should take place in industrial areas of urban centers, and prisons located in rural or isolated areas should be sold.