Auckland Prison

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Auckland Prison's high security wing.

The Auckland Prison , also known as paremoremo , discloses a prison in Auckland on the North Island of New Zealand .

geography

The Auckland Prison is located around 15 km northwest of the city center of Auckland and is part of the Albany district of the former city of North Shore City , now North Shore Ward . The facility has an area of ​​600 m × 700 m and is located in the Paremoremo settlement .

description

The prison, which was built in 1968, consists of a medium security section and a high security section. The two prisons are physically separated, but are close to each other. They are operated by the Department of Corrections . The maximum security prison is the only one of its kind in New Zealand.

In addition to the maximum security prison for 645 prisoners, the Auckland West section was built in 1981 to provide relief for other, overcrowded prisons, such as Mount Eden Prison . There are also Te Mahinga , a department for discharge preparation with a low security level, and Te Piriti , a special department with 60 places for prisoners for child abuse who are also treated here.

As in all New Zealand prisons, overcrowding is a constant problem, so in 2005 prisoners were kept overnight in police and court cells and driven to Paramoreomo to shower , while trucks parked outside the prison were even used as cells in other prisons.

In the high-security wing, the part (formerly) known as the D-Block has a reputation for particularly harsh prison conditions; there are around 3 employees per prisoner.

safety

Security has been greatly expanded over the decades. Prison chaplain David Connor noted that when he arrived in Paremoremo in 1984, there was only a chain fence around the medium security block, whereas in 2006 there was a barbed wire fence, a steel fence, trip wires that set off an alarm, and another barbed wire fence.

In March 1998, inmates Graeme Burton , Arthur Taylor, Darren Crowley and Matthew Thompson discovered a damaged Plexiglas window in the shower wing that led directly to the prison yard. With tools smuggled in, in weeks of work for a prison breakout, they managed to completely remove the Plexiglas window and the window grilles, covering the visible interfaces with a color-matching soap mixture. With the help of an outside accomplice, they managed to escape on June 18. The eleven-day manhunt that led to the re-apprehension cost the state the equivalent of almost 400,000 euros.

Detainees are body- searched after visits , urine tests are carried out for drugs, and cells and mail are screened for drugs with dogs. All phone calls are recorded. Even so, drugs are a problem in the prison system. 13% of the randomly selected prisoners tested positive for drugs in 2007.

As of 2006, the guards carried no firearms and had no access to non-lethal weapons such as pepper spray or tasers . Prison officials have pointed out several times that in the event of a serious incident they have little choice but to call the police and that violent inmates in Paremoremo and the New Zealand prison system in general are becoming an increasing problem.

Following a serious assault by inmates on a guard in 2007, an anonymous officer complained to the New Zealand Herald that security was inadequate. He called the prison more of a "holiday camp" for prisoners, especially those who were considered particularly dangerous. The prison authorities bowed to most of their demands to keep the peace.

On the other hand, in 2004 five prisoners were awarded NZ $ 130,000 each for illegal treatment in Auckland Prison, whereupon the New Zealand Parliament passed The Prisoners and Victims Claims Act , which limits these claims to extreme cases and gives victims priority compensation.

Prisoners known in New Zealand

  • Graeme Burton , 26 years old for murder
  • William Dwane Bell , 30 years old for murder
  • Joseph Thompson , 30 for serial rape

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b About us - Auckland Prison . Department of Corrections , accessed April 1, 2018 .
  2. ↑ Coordinates and longitudes were partly made using Google Earth version 7.1.8.3036 on April 1st, 2018.
  3. ^ About Us / Prisons / Auckland Prison . Department of Corrections , archived from the original on October 15, 2008 ; accessed on August 14, 2012 (English, original website no longer available).
  4. ↑ Helen Tunnah : Vans ruled out as jail cell crisis deepens . In: New Zealand Herald . NZME. Publishing , October 25, 2005, accessed April 1, 2018 .
  5. ^ A b Graham Wear : Over one hundred lawyers inside Paremoremo prison . In: Law News - Issue No. 20 . Auckland District Law Society , 2004, archived from the original on September 27, 2007 ; accessed on January 12, 2016 (English, original website no longer available).
  6. ↑ Simon Collins : Prisoners' drug and alcohol problems rage untreated . In: New Zealand Herald . NZME. Publishing , February 28, 2006, accessed April 1, 2018 .
  7. ↑ Derek Cheng : Prison officer arrested after drugs found in car . In: New Zealand Herald . NZME. Publishing , July 30, 2007, accessed April 1, 2018 .
  8. ^ Prison officers call for weapons after hostage drama at Paremoremo . In: New Zealand Herald . NZME. Publishing , November 9, 2006, accessed April 1, 2018 .
  9. ↑ Derek Cheng : Prison guard: Paremoremo like a 'holiday camp' . In: New Zealand Herald . NZME. Publishing , August 1, 2007, accessed April 1, 2018 .
  10. ^ Prisoners sue for $ 1 million . In: New Zealand Herald . NZME. Publishing , December 27, 2007, accessed April 1, 2018 .

Coordinates: 36 ° 45 ′ 21.6 "  S , 174 ° 38 ′ 42.2"  O