NO JAIL VISITOR IS EXEMPT

I take issue with Murray Hunter's comments and your earlier article.
It is unwise to take the word of anonymous sources, especially when
their assertions are incorrect.

No-one entering a prison is exempt from search. The minister through
to the youngest visitor can be searched. Every staff member and prison
visitor is subject to a criminal conviction check.

Staff must bring their possessions into prisons in plastic bags so
that they can be searched easily.

We work constantly to keep contraband out of prisons and have had
great success in seizing contraband, including drugs, and having
would-be smugglers apprehended.

Furthermore, our random drug tests are at their lowest rates since
testing began in 1998; they're now at 10.5 per cent nationally.

The department certainly doesn't condone the actions of anyone who
profits from illegal drugs.

It disappoints me greatly that one of my staff was arrested for this
sort of activity. This is why we worked with police to successfully
arrest the perpetrators.

The actions of one person should not detract from the hard work,
dedication and professionalism shown by staff at Rimutaka Prison and
across the country.

Barry Matthews

Chief executive, Corrections Department