Pubdate: Fri, 20 Nov 1998
Source: Hobart Mercury (Australia)
Page: 5
Copyright: News Limited 1998
Contact:  http://www.themercury.com.au/
Author: Steven Dally, Chief Political Reporter

CASH BONUS PLAN TO DOB ON INMATES

AN elite Risdon Prison intelligence unit is being trained to ferret
out drug smuggling, escape bids and potentially violent disputes.

The unit could also run a "dob-in-an-inmate" hotline for crimes inside
and outside the prison walls, with possible cash rewards for
information.

But Attorney-General Peter Patmore has ruled out offering sentence
reductions as a reward for information.

Mr Patmore also quashed any suggestion the unit would run undercover
operations in the prison but said listening devices could be used in
approved circumstances.

But Opposition legal spokesman Ray Groom said a hotline would lead to
more prison bashings as informants were identified.

Two prison officers have received special intelligence training for
the role.

Mr Patmore said the telephone hotline was on option but told the
committee there was a moral dilemma over cash rewards.

"There is a moral issue to paying prisoners for information but the
corollary is they will not do so unless you pay," he said.

The revelations came with Mr Patmore telling a Budget estimates
hearing yesterday that Risdon was a 1940s American-designed structure
transplanted to Tasmanian in the 1960s with major structural problems.

He also said the high number of inmates, 350 now in Risdon compared to
the traditional average of 270, was another problem.

Mr Patmore told the committee: He would investigate public and private
prisons in Victoria, New South Wales and South Australia. He was
committed to prisons remaining in public hands. Electronic and home
detention schemes in SA would be examined. Prison escort guards would
not be armed because of the increased likelihood escapes could become
shoot-outs putting guards at risk. $20,000 was being spent upgrading
Risdon's 62 security cameras.
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Checked-by: Patrick Henry