New system to stop work party runaways
9 March 2010
Age, offence, sentence length will be taken into account under Correction's new system to classify prisoners taking part in work parties
The Department of Corrections is using a new system to classify prisoners in the hope of further reducing the inmate escape rate.
Over the last 12 years the rate of escapes has declined by just over 90 percent but Corrections spokeswoman Leanne Field says while that might sound good, the department wants to get the numbers even lower.
"We been a bit concerned that we've had some walkaway escapes from work parties and when we reviewed those, it became clear that the current system wasn't as effective as it could be."
Ms Field says more attention will be paid to several issues when considering which inmates can participate in work parties.
"It is evident that offenders under the age of 25 are more likely to escape. Aside from age, the new system takes into account the type of offence, the sentence length and the number of previous sentences.
Corrections has also introduced a new maximum security level for female inmates wanting to take part in the work party scheme.
©2010 New Zealand City Limited
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