Public Safety is Improved

Reducing the harm of re-offending

An increase in our Electronic Monitoring capabilities will contribute to public safety outcomes, with enhanced GPS options for monitoring the whereabouts of any breaches of conditions by offenders. Access to standardised real-time information on the location of offenders, through the 3M Electronic Monitoring system, allows breaches to be detected at an early stage, protecting the public and reducing the harm that offenders can cause before their breach is identified.

The new system will detect violations of sentences and orders as soon as they occur and will keep the department informed of the offender’s movements, meaning that responses will be faster and more accurate. The opportunities for offenders to commit new offences are therefore substantially reduced.

Audio-visual links (AVL) technology

Our use of AVL technology reduces the security risks associated with transporting prisoners to court. Expanding our use of this technology will allow more prisoners to engage in court processes and other activities without leaving prison.

Programmes

• In the community, we will be increasing our rehabilitative provision in three main areas:
• new alcohol and other drug maintenance programmes for offenders released from custody on parole or conditions
• increase medium intensity programmes, including family violence and AOD interventions, for offenders on intensive supervision and supervision orders
• increase drink-drive and driver licence education interventions for offenders on community work.

How progress will be monitored

Ensuring offenders complete their sentences as ordered by the courts contributes to public safety. To achieve this, Corrections will continue to enhance its technology and services to ensure offenders in the community comply with their sentences and orders, and risks to public safety are managed. To deliver this, we will improve services in Electronic Monitoring of offenders. Frontline staff have also received secure smart phones with expanded capability to access real-time offender movement information, optimising information sharing, communication and safety.

Increased capacity for Electronic Monitoring of offenders in the community

End to end Electronic Monitoring of high-risk offenders in the community and people remanded to Electronically Monitored bail is now delivered by one supplier, 3M. The 3M contract is the result of a consolidation of several contracts for supply of monitoring services. The new contract has raised the service level and creates a more robust system of monitoring, capable of monitoring a higher volume of offenders. 3M’s point of difference is the monitoring of more offenders with GPS whose whereabouts is fundamental to sentence or order compliance.

The enhanced GPS technology employed will ensure that offenders are held to account if they breach the conditions of their sentences and orders. From June 2015, 55% of the offenders electronically monitored in the community will be monitored by GPS, compared to 5% in November 2014. Other forms of monitoring will continue, such as home visits and reporting in with probation officers. The 3M contract provides for monitoring up to 4,500 offenders. Offenders who would be eligible for GPS monitoring include:

• Prisoners on Released to Work
• Offenders sentenced to home detention
• Offenders with community-based sentences and orders (excluding community work)
• High-risk offenders in the community
• People on Electronically Monitored bail.

The department has been able to use GPS to increase options for prisoners on Release to Work. Release to Work placements are enhanced by the availability of technology to monitor offender movements across wide distances, decreasing the risks of managing releases from prison. Further work will be undertaken in 2015/16 to extend this technology to remotely detect the use of drugs and alcohol by offenders monitored in the community.

Standards of practice for probation officers

Mandatory standards are unique to each order or sentence. They set our bottom line and the starting point for the level of service to be delivered for every offender.

New Standards of Practice for probation officers came into effect on 1 July 2015 and replace mandatory standards which have been in existence for five years.

The new Standards of Practice have been created to ensure probation practice is focused on achieving optimum outcomes with offenders. The standards are streamlined across all sentences, orders and reports to ensure a more offender-centric focus. We have introduced an assessment of the quality of practice to compliment the standards of practice.

How progress will be monitored

We have seen how safety can be enhanced through technology and many of our sites have already benefited from recent upgrades. Further improvements will ensure:

• we continue to operate with modern infrastructure
• that on-body cameras are available for all prison staff working in high-risk areas
• improved standards for prisons to support long term security, rehabilitation and safety needs.

We will continue to make significant improvements to sites by progressing the National Property Strategy 2014-18 Action Plan, such as enhanced perimeter fencing, improvements to entry points, more secure units and earthquake strengthening.

Safe and secure

We manage offenders in ways that minimise their risk of harming others. We manage prisoners to prevent assaults on staff and other prisoners and we actively work to manage and reduce the levels of risk posed by community-based offenders.

Properly managing aggressive behaviour can reduce the likelihood of injury to staff, offenders and the general public, so we are providing staff with more tools and training that will allow them to effectively handle situations that have the potential to cause harm.

The Unit Profile & Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) Deployment Guide (the Guide) is a tool to help custodial staff deploy PPE in a dynamic way, which remains appropriate to the level of risk within a particular unit. PPE can range from handcuffs and on-body cameras to stab resistant body armour in the highest risk environments, as well as having Emergency Response Teams available for deployment.

How progress will be monitored

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