Last updated 21:07, June 6 2018
LAWRENCE SMITH/STUFF
Three guards were set upon by gang member prisoners at South Auckland Correctional Facility early last month. (File photo).
Three guards were set upon by gang member prisoners at South Auckland Correctional Facility early last month. (File photo).
Prison guards across Auckland have come forward with safety concerns, saying inexperienced staff are being put with New Zealand's most dangerous criminals.
Following an assault on Saturday at Auckland Prison - the fifth attack there in a week - it has emerged three guards were set upon by two gang member inmates at South Auckland Correctional Facility early last month.
A staff member at the Serco-run facility in Wiri, who wished to remain anonymous, said two guards received concussions in the fracas, while one was punched and stomped on the floor.
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The guards had gone into the inmates' cell to search for contraband and found a tattoo gun and ink, the staff member said. The prisoners suddenly lashed out when questioned over the prohibited items.
The staff member said Wiri had become a dangerous place to work, as inexperienced guards were brought in to cover the prison's high security wing, where the assault took place.
Prison director Mike Ingles said the offending inmates had been charged with assault. (File photo).
"The management's supposed to put the best staff in there, but they put anyone in there."
In response, prison director Mike Inglis confirmed three officers had sustained injuries in the recent attack, as other officers "quickly came to their assistance".
The offending prisoners had since been charged with assault.
Of the three affected officers, two of them had more than one year's experience working with prisoners, and one had worked as an officer for six months, Inglis said.
There was "zero tolerance to violence" at the facility.
"Many prisoners have violent backgrounds and have been imprisoned for violence-related offences. We work constantly to reduce the risk but when violence occurs, as it does in all prisons, perpetrators are identified and brought to account for their actions."
Meanwhile, on the other side of the Super City, at least 30 guards at Auckland Prison at Paremoremo on the North Shore called in sick on Sunday, after what Corrections described as a campaign of "organised violence" against them by gang member inmates.
Alan Whitley, president of prison staff union the Corrections Association, said the guards have since returned to work, after a more robust safety plan was put in place in the prison's maximum security wing.
A staff member at the prison who did not want to be identified, said incidents there were ongoing because of "the way that they run the prison".
"They have all these new staff working in maximum security blocks with no experience, and it's just a matter of time before someone ends up losing their lives, or becomes really badly injured," the staff member said.
A staff member was assaulted at Auckland Prison on Saturday - the fifth attack there in a week. (File photo)
"There are a lot of new staff that they have hired, and they have put them straight in to maximum security without any experience at all."
The staff member said running prison blocks depended on a rapport between the guards and the inmates.
"If the prisoners wanted to overpower staff they could just do it, but because they have a good rapport, they've worked with them for so long, the prisoners get to know the staff members. But now they've got all these new people coming in, and the prisoners play up all the time."
A staff member at Northland Region Corrections Facility in Kaikohe has also contacted Stuff saying they feared for their safety.
A new roster system meant the facility was under-staffed, most days running at least 15 staff short, the staff member said.
"Some nights we are ending up with no staff so have to pull out the overtime, and people are working up to 40 or more hours overtime per week.
"Corrections don't care about staff safety or conditions; even though the inspectors have been through the prison recently, they expect 60-year-old women or old men to control 87-plus prisoners."
A female guard was recently punched in the face by a long-serving prisoner, the staff member said.
Dozens of guards at Auckland Prison called in sick on Sunday, after what Corrections described as a campaign of "organised violence" against them by gang member inmates. (File photo).
Michael Rongo, acting prison director at Northland Region Corrections Facility, confirmed the March incident. He said the prisoner had since been segregated and transferred to maximum security at Auckland Prison.
"This is unacceptable, and has been referred to police for criminal prosecution," Rongo said.
The staff member was taken off-site for medical assessment and treatment and had since returned to work.
He said staff at the facility had been voluntarily working up to an additional 40 hours over a 28 day period, or around 10 hours overtime a week. Any time worked in excess of eight hours per day was paid at the overtime rate, which is time and a quarter.
"This is in part attributable to four current vacancies at the facility, which we are advertising for as part of our nationwide recruitment drive."
New Zealand's prison population has been growing rapidly for the past 30 years. In 2016 the prison population exceeded 10,000 for the first time, and it had continued to grow since then.