Regional Prisons Programme

The regional prisons policy both meets the need for more beds in the prison system and the aim of housing inmates closer to their home areas.

The Department recognises the important role in reducing re-offending played by family, whanau and friends in supporting an offender to rehabilitate, ease their reintegration into the community and maintain a crime-free lifestyle. These relationships with family, whanau and friends can be maintained and enhanced if the offender is close to their home area.

Four new regional prisons are planned, including one for women, and are at different stages of development. They are the Northland Region Corrections Facility, the Spring Hill Corrections Facility, the Auckland Region Women's Corrections Facility and the Otago Region Corrections Facility.

Sandee
Thanks for posting this info up
Perhaps, if your husband doesnt mind, he can tell us (or you can) write about a structured day in a NZ prison, so we can get some idea about how they rehabilitate, etc, and what goes on with there days.

Well, here goes. Keep in mind hobbies are not allowed because someone usually ends up stabbling someone else so the whole prison gets punished. Jobs are rare, maybe only 2 or 3 work per unit. Non-working get paid $2.75 per week. Weekdays they get unlocked at 7am, breakfast is at 7.20. Then it is compulsory yard at 8am. There is one table for about 55 guys in the yard. At 11am they come in for lunch and wander around till 1pm where its "yard or lock" , meaning locked in your cell or out in the yard. They are unlocked or brought in at 3pm where the rest of the time is taken up by dinner and just wandering around until lockup at 7.30pm. The weekends are the same except they are unlocked at 8am and locked up for the night at 4pm. Day in day out. God it is depressing just writing about it Sandy

Hi Sandi/Hi Kyla

Yes it can be very depressing indeed. The structure of an inmates day very much depends on what prison he is in and what level of risk he is accessed at.

My husband is in Auckland Prison in a unit that is classed med/min.

There are 60 cells in his particular unit with one inmate to each cell (hence 60 inmates) His unit is a working unit, only those inmates that want to work and have been accessed at med/min risk can or are offered transfer to this paticular unit.

To be quite honest I am/was so happy when my husband was transfered to this unit as it is far more relaxed and the guards are really not that bad, but then I guess there's always one ratbag!

My husband can make phone calls home anytime right up until he's locked down for the night. I also can call and leave him a message to call home if I need to talk to him and the longest time I have waited for him to call me at home after leaving him a message was about 10 minutes. Not to bad if you ask me taking into acct they (prison officers are not a secretarial service)

Visiting days are Saturdays from 9am - 2:45pm and we can hug, kiss, cuddle, hold hands - basically lot's of physical contact as long as it does not revert to overt and obvious sexual indencencies and if they do think it is "looking that way" then you are politely told to refrain. Seeing there are normally children in the outside and inside visiting area most couples restrain themselves. Visitors are also allowed to take in cig's if you or your husband/partner/friend etc etc smoke. You can also take in books, mags, phone-card, puzzels, letters, news-paper and cash for the inmates acct which you get a receipt for aas well as the inmate, but you have to leave those things at the office and the inmate picks them up after visiting hours are over.

There's coffeee/tea making facilities and you can also buy snacks to eat.

My husband has been in prison now for 11 months and we have had 3 "Family Days" at these family days you can take whatever food you like in, the unit also provides a bbq for cooking steaks/chops/ etc etc etc and the last one we had the Unit Manager and prison officers came around with a box off candy/lollies/sweets and handed them out to the kids and adults as well, also the Unit Manager provided ice-cream for everyone. It was a really lovely day believe it or not!

My husbands day starts at:

Mon - Fri Only

7-7:30am when all cells are unlocked (a head count and ID of the inmate by the officer unlocking the cells is done at the time it takes approx 1/2 for 60 units to be unlocked ID done and head count.

7-30 - 8:am Breakfast i.e. cereal, toast, juice or milk

After breakfast those who go to work during the day then leave (there are 2 shifts you can choose from either morning/afternoon - afternoon/evening)

8:00am Lock down till 10:00am so cleaners can come in and clean the yard. Those who attend various programmes are unlocked during this cleaning time and sent to their respective programmes.

10:00am All inmates are unlocked and free to do whatever, they can visit and chat with other inmates in their cells, use the gym (yes they have a gym) read, watch tv, most inmates have their own tv's in their cells. My husband has a tv in his cell.

12:30pm Lunch and that can vary (it's not to bad so my hubby tells me)

2:30pm My hubby goes to work, those who who come back from morning work do whatever till dinnertime which is at 5:30pm.

5:30pm Dinner and this can vary between a hot meal to cold chicken and salad or whatever.

Approx 8:30pm Lockdown for those who are not on afternoon/evening work.

Since my husband works afternoons/evenings he also has his dinner at work which is much better he tells me than dinner back at the unit LOL i.e. sometimes a bbq dinner. He also is allowed to call me in the evenings from work.

His lockdown for the night can be anywhere from 9pm to even midnight.

Sat/Sun

Unlocked @ 7-7:30am

Inmates are free to do whatever....(visiting days Saturdays...)

Lockdown @ 8:30pm approx



The most frustrating thing for my husband is the obvious limitations but to be honest with the stories I have read on the net about many US prisons and even other prisons in NZ my husband has it pretty good really when you do a comparison.

But then this is a non-violent inmate very low risk working unit so I guess he is very fortunate really.

Although on the day of his sentencing he was sent to Mt Eden Prison and he was able to call me that night to let me know he was okay, he was more worried about me than himself.

After only 3 weeks of being sentenced he was then placed in the unit he is in now, he got 2 years for his crime but by law only has to serve 12 months, so he will be released next month. He's called me 3x today LOL and now that his release date is getting closer he says the days just seem like they are dragging.

Anyways I hope this gives you a bit of a different view and insight from a different unit and prison.

Cheers
dallen