The Office of the Inspectorate has released an inspection report for the Department of Corrections’ Prisoners of Extreme Risk Unit (PERU), which is located in Auckland Prison.

The PERU houses prisoners considered by Corrections to present a high ongoing level of risk, including some who pose a very high risk of violence and some who are involved in transnational organised crime.

“I acknowledge that these men need additional measures to be managed safely,” said Chief Inspector Janis Adair.

“However, despite this, we found conditions in the PERU to be overly and unnecessarily restrictive. We found that all the men spent most of their time alone in their cells.

“None of the men were mixing with any other prisoners, and there were very few interventions that offered meaningful human interaction or constructive activities.

“Some of the men had spent months or years in these conditions, which likely amounted to prolonged solitary confinement.

“We found many prisoners did not know what they could do, if anything, to progress out of the PERU and into a less restrictive regime.

“We found the isolation and hopelessness experienced by the men was raised as a concern by mental health clinicians.

Ms Adair said she expected Corrections to take steps to offer more meaningful human interaction and constructive activities to these men. She also expected Corrections to implement a robust assurance framework to provide safeguards to the PERU decision-makers and also to the men.

“I hope this report and its findings provides Corrections with important insights to consider how it might safely and securely manage those prisoners it considers pose the most significant risk, while giving proper regard for the impact of such a highly restrictive regime that separates individuals from others for prolonged periods of time.”

The announced inspection took place in July 2023. The report makes 12 findings, which Corrections has responded to, saying the findings will inform the work programme to ensure continuous improvement in the unit. Corrections’ response is appended to the report.

The inspection process provides an ongoing insight into prisons and provides assurance that shortcomings are identified and addressed in a timely way, and that examples of good practice are acknowledged and shared across the prison network. Inspections are carried out using Inspection Standards, which guide Inspectors on the independent and objective assessments of the treatment of prisoners and prison conditions.

The Inspectorate is a critical part of the independent oversight of the Corrections system and operates under the Corrections Act 2004 and the Corrections Regulations 2005. The Inspectorate, while part of Corrections, is operationally independent, which is necessary to ensure objectivity and integrity.

A video of Chief Inspector Janis Adair speaking about the report is available here.

Note: This report does not, nor is it intended to, examine and report on the management of any one individual in the PERU.

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