The Union Report - Private Prison Special

Serco Sucks, Too

Just a quick follow up on some of the news coming out of New Zealand regarding its Mt. Eden prison, which is run by Serco, probably the largest non-US based private prison operator in the world.  The prison and the company have come under tremendous scrutiny in recent months for its poor operation of the facility.  It was recently discovered that the company failed to meet at least 40% of the targets in its contract with the government.  As more information came out, it was determined that the company failed to meet at least half of its performance goals; and that among its management issues in the past year were wrongful releases and detentions, and an escape.  Less than 1/3 of the prisoners had a classification plan within the target time frame; the contract targeted a rate of 90%.

So it's not just in the US that private companies epically fail to meet their contractual obligations to run prisons.  I suppose that should make me feel better, but it doesn't.

In New Zealand, a 40% Failure Rate Is Acceptable

Or so says the associate justice minister, who sees no reason to reconsider the country's relationship with Serco, the company that failed to meet 40% of the terms in its contract to operate a private prison there.

Serco Loses Another Prisoner

Serco, the company that operates New Zealand's only private prison, somehow let a prisoner escape from the Mt. Eden correctional center, the second prisoner to escape from the facility this year.  The company is likely to be ordered to pay its second fine of $150,00 this year for the escape.

Privatization Issues in New Zealand

Unfortunately for prisoners of the world, the private industry is not relegated to the United States.  New Zealand is one of a handful of other countries that allows private companies to operate prisons, but their results aren't much better than what we see here in the states.  Officials have noticed a couple of "worrying trends," including poor management of facilities and escapes, at a prison operated by Serco.  This has some calling for a reconsideration of the government's plan to house up to a quarter of its prisoners in private prisons.  The facility has also suffered from a high rate of drug test failures among employees, which might explain the prisoners they mistakenly released.