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Monday, August 14, 2006

PRISON BLOG 5

EVERYONE LOVES A PARADE

With the inmates doing their best not to line up properly on the two yellow lines – that the lines are only long enough for half the people a convenient excuse – the tension builds. The entire muster is on parade outside “control”, that is to say the watchhouse. It must be a talking from on high.

Out comes the management guy who had completed a brisk inspection lap of the compound during lock-down. The same guy in civvy clothes who had then helped turn-over a cell. He was wearing a Queensland meets Napier combo that might pass for Hawkes Bay chic; but with his sunglasses propped atop his boofy hair, white trousers and boat shoes it was a look that died in the early ‘90s where I come from.

He has the demeanor of a “Honky Boss Man” – the same mix of fear, frustration and anger of an over-reached provincial yuppy desperately trying to sell his BMW to pay irrate creditors just after the ’87 crash. His manner is somewhere between an ungracious maths teacher and a disappointed car-yard owner chastising his salesmen.

His address to inmates is coarse, tetchy and entirely negative. No positives at all: no “thank you for not stabbing each other for the last six months,” no “thanks for not threatening to murder the staff” – nothing, just criticism. There were cell phones, he could smell dope – and those offenders were about “to have their lives change” dramatically he said ominously, referring to immediate transfers to a higher security unit. (At this last point let me say that smoking God’s herb would be an excellent cure for boredom in this place and an activity I would engage in were it not for the risk of detection (random tests, checks and searches) and the resultant punishments including potentially being made to serve the full sentence.)

Inmates, he explains, will not be getting a barbecue as previously arranged because of misbehaviour. His obsessive pet hate of people trading food (for gambling debts primarily) and his counter-measure of banning all food swapping/leaving in the dining hall is underscored (he is said to watch the closed circuit video from the dining hall with regularity) as are the restrictions of inmates coming to the grille at control for enquires. So far so facist. Throughout this time he fidgets : clenching his keys and coin change with his hands thrust deep in his straining white pants, with his billowing gut hanging out over the top like a giant blob of golden syrup ready to drop, he angrily confirms and reconfirms the list of lost privileges and makes further threats of group punishment. This man is a massive heart attack that can’t come soon enough.

He asks for questions. Why yes, here are some questions for our marooned friend from the ‘80s.

Why is it that many of these rules are only applicable to this unit and not in the others? (The way it was said made it sound as if “the others” included every other prison too.) Alarmingly he doesn’t deny it. You may remember his justification from school days: “because those are the rules…I make the rules….I don’t care what they do in other units…this is my unit…I’ll run it the way I want…” etc etc. – and just as unconvincing. Far from being appreciative of their special, perhaps unique, treatment the inmates mirror in expression the resentful tone of their would-be Col. Klink: Why is the carving room still shut down? What is the point of that room then? Why do we have to throw our food in the bin rather than give it to someone who wants it? Why is the grille only open for two hours a day?

The response each time is that all these measures are for inmate safety – except the last, which is “so staff can get on with their paperwork” without being “annoyed every two minutes.” Well, every other unit seems to survive the hectic disruption to the all important paperwork unscathed. What special challenges do his staff face that they need more hours of imposed boredom and increased amounts of prisoner frustration? Klink only knows.

Later that afternoon I go to the grille to ask if there is any mail for me or for the other two guys who asked if I could check for them since I was up there. The officer had barely left the counter to look when Klink, his eyes bulging, suddenly lurches into view like a manic puppet and starts speaking a mile a minute. Up close he has a ruddy complextion and a glowing red beak of a nose. He warns me to “do your own lag” and that asking for other people’s mail could be a stand-over. Well everything in Klink’s hyperactive, neurotic imagining is a stand-over or potential stand-over I was quickly learning. It also fitted neatly into his efforts to piss prisoners off and reduce the efficiency and service to a level bordering on the Wellingtonian ;) I try to explain that I have no intention of getting the others mail, only to save two people a wasted journey if they had none. But I wasn’t getting a word in edgewise. Paranoia reigns supreme: it could all be a stand-over you see he reiterates without realizing he is the only one doing any standing-over (or am I being too generous?).

His eyes are furiously popping by now, his speech rapid, observations acutely delusional and exhibiting all the signs, the symptoms, of a fried-up P Head at the end of a three-day meth binge. If he was an inmate he would surely be tested. This is a very stressed out Klink. Maybe General Berkholter is due to visit the stalag?

But he isn’t quite wound up enough yet – not enough to take his glasses out of his boofy hair and wave them in one hand and exclaim in exasperation “Hogan!” So I tell him his whole food idea is wrong. He repeats his standard line and I say that while I sympathise that some skinny white guys have dropped unconscious in the past because they have had to pay all their food to someone the opposite of skinny and white – that is why they shouldn’t be in such a unit to start with and that basically his rule shouldn’t be enforced. Alas, he said, he didn’t need advice and he had run prisons for a long time. Well for a unit with more cell phones than an Auckland high school and more cannibas than a Northland one (some listening to him on parade were probably stoned – I wish I could have been one of them) and a peculiar regime of limiting even standard services, privileges and rights alike, one has to wonder how successful he is and how long he will be with us – heart attack or not.

Now the stressbunny’s attitude is in stark contrast to the largely good-natured staff it must be emphasised – despite reports from some of the longer-serving inmates that have noticed good staff become more distant and less friendly under his tenure. Without their professional discretion and practical flexibility his regime would be as bad as he makes it sound – and no doubt intends it to be.

The problem is that management does set an example. Under this regime (as with schools) the official rule book, the manual, is nothing but a door stop – all the procedures and fine words and commitments to fairness etc. are absolutely redundant in practice. The rules are arbitrary, unilateral and set and re-set by Col. Klink on P. It puts the inmates as well as the staff in an awkward position. If it is difficult for inmates how bad is it for the staff?

And hanging over every prisoner is the absolute impotence they have to do anything about it. They can be in the pound or transferred immediately at a whim without a credible or verifiable reason and without chance of appeal. “Troublemakers” could find themselves in very hostile territory in a prison like this – within a matter of hours.

Tim Selwyn
Prison Blogger

18 Comments:

At 14/8/06 3:58 pm, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Fantastic vignette.
Russell: Activity need to publish this man's work.
Martyn: Make sure Tim is writing the manuscript will in Klink's klink.
If this was the UK these 'letters' would be serialised in a Sunday paper ahead of the book publishing.

 
At 14/8/06 3:59 pm, Anonymous Anonymous said...

hahahaaaahhha long time lurker first time posta keep it comming tim love ya work

 
At 14/8/06 3:59 pm, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Kia kaha Tim. You are an inspiration to all fraudsters who steal little dead kiddies' ID for financial gain everywhere.

 
At 14/8/06 4:00 pm, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Its high time the corrections dept pulled their heads up from out of their ass and stood up to these prisoners. According to Tim Co-Klink sounds just like the man fit for the job. Let this be an insperation for all that You are sentenced for a reason, and by any means prison is not meant to be a holiday away from home no matter how much they moan and wine.

 
At 14/8/06 4:01 pm, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Eyes wide open here (still can't remember me passwrod and stuff).
Wow Tim – you got those government bods shifting in their 'fat cat' seats I think!!!
The govt have announced (all please stand) to “unveil big changes to the criminal justice system as part of a push to reduce reoffending and cut prisoner numbers.” But wait there is more…
“…key ministers will spell out policies understood to include steps to spot the risk of reoffending earlier, known as "effective interventions". And this one time special offer comes with…
“More controversial are plans expected to include greater use of home detention and community sentences – including curfews and electronic tagging – signalled by the Government earlier this year.”
Why that’s it…lets tag them like dogs and treat them like kids…why that is the answer…we will be criminal free in no time. Please…hasn’t this been around for a while now? Are the media being twisted or bending over for a desperate attempt for the govt to make good?
Sorry sorry sorry for the sarcastic rant…but is there anything the 100-200 thousand plus a year earners like to tell us that actually means something...please. No they CAN'T...
“In a sign of sensitivity about the announcement, the Government has kept a tight lid on the details…” of course they would…after all it must be just F B I top secret to let the country know about the details – I mean national security is at stake – what the hell? Hurh?
And the Treasurer brings it back to bottom line, hard core C A S H…”a Treasury paper that found the Government's crime reduction strategy was failing and crime cost New Zealand $9.1 billion a year.” Now we are focusing…!!!
Sorry to come off so pissed off, but these are not addressing “reoffending”. The whole press release stinks of quick fix, short term, no value solutions!! No wonder crime is costing the whole of NZ 9mil...with diarrhea like this!!! And not ONCE did I see in this article the word ‘rehabilitate’ ‘healing’ (yes fuzzy, wolly wishy washy healing) ‘individual potential’ ‘increase skills’ – so crims can come out into society and actually see that they have options – not a second jail sentence!!! Aaahhhhh!!!!
http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3763785a10,00.html

 
At 14/8/06 4:01 pm, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hi bomber and bloggers, short time lurker thanks to Mr Power getting hot and bothered and on the news.
What can you do but laugh at these haters who say good and great job when they hear of the personal punishment and head games played by corrections staff.
From what I recall by our laws here in NZ it is the judge / court that punishes not the screw.
These people who want it to be hard tend to want everyone to also live to the letter of the law. So how are they promoting this if they say good when you hear of a screw punishing and playing games outside of our laws here in NZ.
I have personally been there and done it. I got used to the games eventually and came to enjoy the challenge and the great laughs I would get from their blatant stupidity.
Not a single prison unit in NZ runs by the same rules even though they are all under the PPM ( ask for a copy Tim, Klink will love that ).
I gave up smoking inside and going thru that inital period of hanging out and being damn hungry I used to eat a lot of 2 minute noodles. One day I was called to the dogbox and the screw who was checking all the P119's said I wasn't allowed to get 2 min noodles anymore, why I asked, the responce " because there a food ". hmmmmmm I thought and looked at the list of items I was allowed to buy, so is nearly everything else on there. So much for trying to better myself by quitting smoking.
And as for trying to better myself and coming up against the brick wall which is corrections how about being allowed to do a french course, ( payed for by the dept ) and then not being allowed a tape recorder to send away tapes of the work I've done. So I failed.( guy in the cell next to me tried to do a german course , got told NO thats racist ). I did get my school cert maths in there though.
On a side note they may go on and on about cell phones being used inside to organize escapes, drugs etc but the real fear from corrections is having pic's and recordings from in there.
We had ONE screw who if we hadn't be given any work to do wouldn't let us sit outside of our cells if it was a nice day. When I questioned it... " because it is a rule I've had always had ". She didn't care if we were outside and it was raining.
Just a couple of very very very little examples of the mental frustration you face everyday inside. ( very very very little for the haters who will come back with boo hoo you didn't get your noodles )
And to any asshole, game playing screws reading this I did get my own back a little by pissing on my hands for all 8 drug tests I passed ( hahahahahah Damn the ESR are crap ) and then signed the paper work with your chewed on pen.

 
At 14/8/06 4:06 pm, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I suspect after management reads this Tim will also be able to tell us what it's like to suffer a severe beating at the hands of a screw. Not smart Tim, not smart at all.

 
At 14/8/06 4:59 pm, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Brilliant Bro, keep up t5he good work!

 
At 14/8/06 5:58 pm, Anonymous Anonymous said...

So it IS a little like Bad Girls then....

 
At 14/8/06 6:32 pm, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Do these affronts to Tim’s sensitivities mean the experience has served as a deterrent for him to be a good boy and not go back to jail.

Most people would figure out that breaking the law carries with it a risk, albeit a small one, of going to jail. Most people would also guess that jail may not be the best place to find gentle, cultured, educated, urbane, sophisticated company.

Maybe that is because those who consider themselves gentle, cultured, educated etc…. also consider themselves to good to work in a prison.

If a person was urbane, sophisticated etc. it might hurt their sensitivities to be called a ‘screw’ or worse everyday so I can understand why they choose not to do it - which means you get left with .... well .... them who is rather less sensitive and can take it and maybe give it as well.

 
At 14/8/06 7:23 pm, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Warning – boring crap from uneducated moron follows, might be best to move on now.

Talk is cheap and generally achieves little or nothing. For those who genuinely care wouldn’t action be more worthwhile.

We have someone here who, apparently, cares about criminals (and their families I assume), cares about smacking, cares about rehabilitation …… and lots more.

For those who really want to help prisoners and their families here is a link to PARS http://www.pars.org.nz

One thing that has come to my mind would be to offer to baby-sit for people visiting inmates. Not necessarily for women visiting partners, that might be dangerous for her and you, crims can be very possessive over their ‘cooks’, but maybe someone visiting a friend, sister or other relative. I am sure that the well known actress would understand, she may even be prepared to have her child be there as well, a bit of cross social boundary mixing might be good for everyone.

Some people have to travel a long way to visits so may need someone to care for the kids for a few days, often not just one, many of these women have been banging one out every year or two since they were 16.

This would seem to me to have the potential to achieve many things, including - giving the mother some much needed respite, the baby sitter would get some first hand experience of the pressures of looking after children alone, it would give the children access to a positive male figure in their lives, it would also give them an insight into another world, one of education, arts and culture rather than booze and violence.

I can relate to the disadvantages of these children as I grew up without a male figure in my life. My father was not in jail he was a vagrant and, as far as I know, died on the street. This stigma meant I was given no access to education, even though I passed entrance exams 3 times (at 11, 12 and 13) my admittance to better schools was always blocked. I have found out since if someone with more education (my mother was like me ignorant and uneducated) had interceded on my behalf these schools could have been forced to accept me based on my exam results. Ironic that those same better educated classes now sneer at me for being stupid – seems a bit harsh to me but such is life.

Incidentally although I have been abused, one way or another, all my life I have stayed away from crime, I have dealt with my disadvantage sometimes with the dignity of the lower classes and sometimes with extreme bitterness. Either way I don’t think I have damaged anyone but myself.

I suggest that there is evidence that if offending is to be reduced intervention has to start long before people go to jail, preferably before the age of 7.

I will look forward to reading ‘babysitting’ blog.

END: I warned you so don’t complain if you read it anyway.

 
At 14/8/06 8:24 pm, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Gosh! These prison blogs ARE revealing. Prison bosses are mean. Prison bosses don't listen to the suggestions of prisoners. Prison bosses can be arbitrary AND unilateral.

This is facinating stuff. I mean FACINATING.

 
At 15/8/06 9:25 am, Blogger Bomber said...

....
To all thos people who say Tim was treated fairly abd 'got what he deserved' - here's news of someone charged with Fraud, stealing $190 000 and who got......Nothing

Waipareira Trust executive escapes forgery conviction
 
Tuesday August 15, 2006
 
A former Waipareira Trust chief financial officer has been discharged without conviction after admitting 15 charges of forging invoices totalling $190,000.
 
Michael Tolich, 55, admitted the charges in Auckland District Court on June 30, which related to offending between 1998 and 2001.
 
But at sentencing yesterday, Judge Mike Lance said the main cause of Tolich's offending was his bipolar disorder. Tolich gained no monetary benefit from his offending, the judge said.
 
Tolich's lawyer Gary Gotlieb said outside the court that the decision was a fair one.
 
He said community service might have been in order if bipolar disorder was not a factor.
 
"His bipolar disorder wasn't diagnosed until after his offending, and this is despite his visiting several medical specialists while this was happening," Mr Gotlieb said.
 
"He is now on medication and everything is fine with him now."
 
The prosecution arose from several investigations, which uncovered false invoices issued by the trust.
 
Former Cabinet minister John Tamihere, who was trust chief executive until late 1999, was cleared of wrongdoing.
 
However, he lost his seat in Cabinet while the investigations took place and never regained the position.
 
Last year Mr Tamihere also lost his seat in Parliament to Maori Party co-leader Pita Sharples, but was elected back on to the trust board.
 
Some members tried to block him, but he was taken back following court action and in April was appointed the trust's executive trustee following the removal of then-chief executive Reg Ratahi.

Tim should have claimed he was Bipolar hu? Tim was treated harshly because he challenged the authority of the State, how much more proof is needed?

 
At 15/8/06 12:08 pm, Anonymous Anonymous said...

For those who want to help the criminals and their families here is some info, as you will see being a former inmate is no barrier to being able to help.

....... Morning
If you contact Auckland PARS on 09 630 0862
Your friend who has done time - I would have thought this experience would
be an asset to being a volunteer. Please give Auckland a ring, and if you
have no joy, (not knowing exactly which area you live) there are a lot of
other non profit organisations out there that desperately need volunteers.
Good luck, have a great day .........

I realise the more uneducated among you may prefer to find a way of offering support to victims (the ones who aren't dead that is) or their families.

Guess what I have managed to get through another day without stabbing anyone, using illegal drugs, stealing, using violence, in fact nothing criminal or anti-social, so I am off to collect my praise and thanks now - if only I could find where to queue for my positive re-enforcement.

Hope little Timmy’s feelings haven't been hurt today and everyone remembered to thank him for not stabbing them.

This really is an insight into the pathetic crim. I always found them like children but I now see I was wrong, they are like vicious, selfish, egocentric backward children. I have a feeling the more mature, smarter and reasonable crim is not going to be too impressed by the way Timmy is portraying them to the public, some have pride and standards and do not appreciate being portrayed as self-pitying whiners.

Instead of waiting for praise and thanks maybe Timmy’s unit residents could forget about their own (self inflicted) predicament for a moment and think of their victims and have something to say to them. I realise this does not apply to Timmy as he is the NZ's Nelson Mandela who deserves our admiration and respect for his great stand against oppression, I am sure biographies are on their way.

Maybe the (very) well know actress has a friend who could play him in the movie.

 
At 15/8/06 12:23 pm, Blogger Bomber said...

……
Anon, I have to congratulate you, reading your words is like going on a journey into pathological bitterness. I don’t pretend to have all the answers, just lots of questions, but your self-rightous tone and complete belief in yourself just seems so unfair when there are millions of children in the third world with no self esteem whatsoever. I love your total faith in the system, as if there is no question Tim deserves the sentence he got, you must sleep very deeply at night.

 
At 16/8/06 1:07 pm, Blogger Bomber said...

...........................
Police jailer accused of passing drugs between prisoners
 
Wednesday August 16, 2006
 
A Rotorua police jailer is under investigation for allegedly passing drugs and a mobile phone from one prisoner to another.
 
The Daily Post understands the female jailer was nabbed after police set up an undercover sting in prison cells.
 
Bay of Plenty crime manager Detective Inspector Garth Bryan has confirmed an investigation is on but refused to go into details about how the matter came to light.
 
He said the jailer had been stood down while a criminal investigation and an employment-related investigation were carried out.
 
No decision had yet been taken about whether the jailer would be charged.
 
The Daily Post understands that the sting was set up following concerns about the way the jailer was doing her job.
 
Jailers employed by the police are non-sworn officers.
 
If convicted, the jailer faces the loss of her job, although police have the discretion to hire non-sworn staff members with criminal offences.
 
The vetting of non-sworn officers and security guards working in police stations has been investigated recently after NZ First MP Ron Mark alleged a gang member with a serious criminal record guarded a suicidal female inmate at Wellington central police station.
 
At the time, Mr Mark said the case highlighted a lack of standard procedures around the hiring and vetting of security guards and temporary non-sworn staff.
 
He told the newspaper yesterday that he would be watching the Rotorua case closely.
 
Mr Mark, who is NZ First's corrections spokesman, said a person with criminal convictions could still be employed as a non-sworn staff member if senior police were happy they had changed their ways.
 
"But the consequences of a bad judgment call are severe and it certainly undermines the credibility of the police force as a whole."
 
Mr Mark wondered if it was a risk worth taking or whether there should be a blanket ban for non-sworn staff, similar to sworn officers - if you have a conviction, you don't have a job with the police.
 
The Rotorua investigation is the second internal inquiry into the city's police staff in just over five weeks.
 
Police are yet to resolve an internal inquiry involving the leader of the Rotorua police dog section, Sergeant Keith Mitchell.
 
His silver mufti police stationwagon was found crashed into a power pole on Pukehangi Rd on July 1.
 
The crash happened about 5.30am and cut power to homes. The car had been reported stolen the same day as the accident.
 
Rotorua police area commander Inspector Bruce Horne said this week that the investigation was continuing.
 
Police had earlier said they were carrying out forensic tests of the vehicle and viewing security camera footage from the central city to try to identify the driver.
 
- DAILY POST (ROTORUA)

 
At 16/8/06 8:45 pm, Anonymous Anonymous said...

If only there were more Colonel Klinks to go around. There might be more incentive not to go to jail in the first place.....! I hope Tim puts as much effort into rehabilitation as he does writing prison fiction stories. Change to a sci-fi genre and we could beam you up Scotty away from that horrible mean planet you got yourself trapped on.

 
At 16/8/06 11:19 pm, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Those anonymous posters who keep on with the line that Tim is in prison to suffer and so the boss is right to be mean are rather missing the point. Tim was not complaining about the boss because he was too harsh but because he was arbritray and stupid. In fact one of his critisisms is that by not being able to control cell phone use and drug use he was not harsh enough.

If the boss' response to Tim's complaints had been "it is a deliberate ploy to make things as unpleasant as we possibly can for you", then there would be a certain logic in this, and even a certain sadistic flair. But the point is that the boss was far too stupid to even care about this.

 

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