Photo: RNZ / Cole Eastham-Farrelly
Prison officers want access to tasers, patrol dogs, and pepper balls to help control dangerous situations.
The Corrections Association is proposing specialist prison officers to have access to the non-lethal weapons, which can control inmates from a distance. It warns a chronic shortage of corrections officers is placing staff at risk of injury, when a fight or riot breaks out.
The Association is meeting with Corrections Minister Mark Mitchell next Thursday, to request the move. President Floyd du Plessis says only site emergency response teams, and advanced control and restraint teams, would be given access to tasers. He is also advocating for the use of pepper balls which release a powder similar to pepper spray, but are shot from a gun. Another suggestion is bringing in perimeter dogs to patrol the fencelines if a dangerous situation reaches a threshold.
Corrections Association President Floyd du Plessis, and lawyer Amanda Hill speak with Kathryn Ryan.
