Prison expansion will almost double their capacity

He told the gathering that one of his priorities was to ensure prison capacity and the resilience of the prison network.

He said the new facility opening next year includes 500 high-security beds, as well as 96 additional beds for incarcerated people with mental health and substance abuse needs.

“These measures will go a long way to increasing capacity and increasing opportunities for rehabilitation and reintegration, delivering the best possible outcomes in terms of improving people’s mental wellbeing and reducing reoffending,” Mitchell said.

“While this is great progress, we must ensure that our prisons are future-proof and have sufficient and suitable prison capacity proportional to the increase in population. »

He said the additional 810-bed facility to be built at Waikeria, expected to be operational by 2029, is part of the Government’s promise to tackle crime.

Mitchell said tighter policing inevitably leads to increased demand for prison capacity.

But the new facilities are also designed to prioritize the safety and well-being of staff, maintain an increasingly complex inmate population safely, meet all mental health and substance abuse needs and give inmates the opportunity to change their lives for the better through rehabilitation.

“This is one of my top priorities in corrections: reducing recidivism through effective rehabilitation. »

Correctional Services chief executive Jeremy Lightfoot thanked the team at Waikeria Prison.

He said sufficient capacity is of course essential, but it is equally important that “we have professional and passionate people to operate these facilities – people who are committed to realizing our vision of making the community more safe, helping people to leave us better and with brighter prospects.”

“The 810 beds that make up the Waikeria Prison expansion are fundamental to ensuring we have this capacity and that Waikeria Prison is a modern, safe facility that supports rehabilitation,” Lightfoot said.