Fourteen prison staff arrested in Auckland

Five more prison staff have been arrested after a police investigation today, bringing the total number of arrests to 14.

Five reintegration officers were arrested at Auckland South Corrections Facility, after it was revealed earlier today that nine officers had been arrested at Mt Eden Corrections Facility.

The Deputy Commissioner for Men's Prisons, Dave Pattinson, said Corrections officers and senior Corrections officers had been arrested.

The arrests were part of a wider police operation in Auckland, Pattinson said.

Criminal activity in prisons would not be tolerated, Pattinson said, and any staff taking part in this sort of activity would be found out and held to account, he said.

"Corrections employs approximately 11,000 staff and the overwhelming majority act with integrity, professionalism and honesty in what is an extremely demanding and often dangerous job working with New Zealand's most dangerous offenders."

Serco, the private company which runs Auckland South Corrections Facility said it took all forms of criminal behaviour extremely seriously and had assisted police with inquires.

It said it was confident that the majority of its staff had integrity, professionalism and a strong commitment to safety every day.

The matter was now subject to an active investigation and court proceedings, and Corrections did not want to compromise that by commenting further, Pattinson said.

Corrections was actively working through the impacts on the staff members employment, he said.

If any staff had concerns about a prisoner or colleague's behaviour, Pattinson encouraged them to speak to their manager or union.

Court documents seen by RNZ show some of the officers have been charged with accepting bribes for bringing in unauthorised items.

The documents don't contain details of what the officers were charged with bringing in.

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