Five reintegration officers were arrested at Auckland South Corrections Facility, after it was revealed earlier today that nine officers had been arrested at Mt Eden Corrections Facility.
The Deputy Commissioner for Men's Prisons, Dave Pattinson, said Corrections officers and senior Corrections officers had been arrested as part of a wider police operation in Auckland.
Criminal activity in jails would not be tolerated, Pattinson said, and any staff taking part in this would be found out and held to account, he said.
"Corrections employs approximately 11,000 staff and the overwhelming majority act with integrity, professionalism and honesty in what is an extremely demanding and often dangerous job working with New Zealand's most dangerous offenders."
Serco, the private company which runs Auckland South Corrections Facility, said it took all forms of criminal behaviour extremely seriously and had assisted police with inquires.
It said it was confident that the majority of its staff had integrity, professionalism and a strong commitment to safety every day.
The matter was now subject to an active investigation and court proceedings, and Corrections did not want to compromise that by commenting further, Pattinson said.
Corrections was actively working through the impacts on the staff members' employment, he said.
If any staff had concerns about a prisoner or colleague's behaviour, Pattinson encouraged them to speak to their manager or union.
Court documents seen by RNZ show some of the officers have been charged with accepting bribes for bringing in unauthorised items.
The documents did not contain details of what the officers were charged with bringing in.
Corrections Minister Mark Mitchell said his expectation for police and Corrections has been that they work closely together, "especially on gangs and organised crime".
"I am very pleased to see the success of this operation, where both agencies have been very effective at dealing with this alleged behaviour.
"Corrections take these matters extremely seriously and will continue to work closely with Police throughout this investigation."
This story was first published on rnz.co.nz |  |
